Wade scores 31, Haslem scores with 15 seconds left and Heat squeak past Hornets 102-101

Haslem’s jumper leads Heat past Hornets, 102-101

MIAMI — Dwyane Wade had 31 points, and Udonis Haslem hit a jumper with 15.4 seconds left to lift the Miami Heat past the New Orleans Hornets 102-101 on Sunday night.

Haslem finished with 14 points off the bench, including both field goals for Miami in the final minute. He tied the game at 100 with 45 seconds left, then after Marcus Thornton put the Hornets ahead with a free throw, Haslem won it with a shot from the left side.

Thornton had 24 points and David West added 13 for New Orleans, which is still without injured point guard Chris Paul.

Michael Beasley scored 17 points, Jermaine O’Neal added 15 and Mario Chalmers finished with 12 points and nine assists for the Heat, who snapped a season-worst three-game slide.

Peja Stojakovic scored 14 points, as did former Heat forward James Posey. West finished with nine rebounds and Darren Collison scored 11 points for the Hornets.

The Heat missed 7 of their first 9 shots in the fourth quarter, seeing a three-point lead entering the period turn into a 95-91 deficit with 6:23 left when Stojakovic made a jumper. New Orleans hadn’t led since the second quarter.

Then, it was the Hornets’ turn to struggle — and Wade’s turn to hit his shots again.

New Orleans went more than 4 minutes without a field goal and Wade, who missed most of the first quarter with foul trouble, hit a pair of 3-pointers 1:33 apart, the second of which gave Miami a 98-95 edge with 3:44 remaining.

Like Wade, New Orleans had foul problems as well.

West, Emeka Okafor and Devin Brown watched from the bench for nearly 7 minutes with two fouls apiece in the first quarter for New Orleans, but Thornton provided a lift. He had 15 of the Hornets’ 18 points in a 3½-minute stretch in the first half.

Then Miami started rolling, a 14-3 run fueled by a 3-pointer from James Jones and two jumpers from Wade to go into the second half with a 59-52 lead.

NOTES: Quentin Richardson remained sidelined with a lower back strain for Miami. Haslem returned after a two-game absence because of a aching left shoulder. … Collison, who played for UCLA last season, said he doesn’t mind having former USC coach Tim Floyd on board. “I knew what he was capable of. If there was one school that probably gave me more problems guarding me defensively, it would probably be USC. So I know his defensive schemes are on point,” Collison said.