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Miami Heat Visit Charlotte Bobcats: Game 3 Preview

Miami looks to extend it's season opening win streak to three against the undefeated Charlotte Bobcats.

The Miami Heat will be visiting the Charlotte Bobcats in Charlotte at the Time Warner Arena tonight. It's the first of three meetings this season between the Southeastern Division rivals, and the only game they will play in North Carolina. For the Bobcats, this is the second of a three game season opening homestand. They beat the Milwaukee Bucks, 96-95 on Monday night, and go on to face the Orlando Magic on Friday. For the Heat, this is the first of a two game road trip, finishing up in Minnesota on Friday night with the Timberwolves.

The last time the two teams met, was April 8. Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh each had 27 and LeBron James added 23 with 9 assists for Miami. Kwame Brown led the Bobcats with 23 points and 13 rebounds as the Heat won, 112-103. Miami was 55-24 and fighting for home court advantage, as Charlotte was 32-47 and still trying to squeak into the playoffs as the eighth seed.

Charlotte vs Miami NBA Highlights 04/08/11 (via bballfansite)

Miami is coming off their home opener against the Boston Celtics. Miami took the game, 115-107. LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Norris Cole each broke 20 and Chris Bosh added a double double with 18 points and 11 rebounds to pace Miami. Ray Allen led all scorers with 28 in Boston's loss.


NBA Boston Celtics Vs Miami Heat Game Recap 12/27/2011 (via NBAHiighlights)


Boris Diaw narrowly missed a triple double, collecting nine points, nine assists and 11 points in Charlotte's 96-95 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks on Monday night.

Milwaukee vs Charlotte NBA Highlights 12/26/2011 (via bballfansite)

All-Time Series: 18-10


Game Time: 7:00 EST

Season Series: 0-0


Standings

Miami Heat: 2-0, tied for first in the Southeast Division, the Eastern Conference and in the NBA.

Charlotte Bobcats: 1-0, tied for second in the Southeast Division, and in the Eastern Conference, tied for fourth in the NBA.

Probable Starters:

Miami Heat

PG - Mario Chalmers

SG - Dwyane Wade

SF - LeBron James

PF - Chris Bosh

C - Joel Anthony

Charlotte Bobcats

PG - D.J. Augustin

SG - Gerald Henderson

SF - Corey Magette

PF - D.J. White

C - Boris Diaw

Common Thread:

Miami forward Juwan Howard played in 39 games for the Bobcats in 2008-09, averaging four points and two rebounds in 12 minutes per game.


Team Milestones:.

Joel Anthony will play in his 247th game for Miami, putting him past Anthony Carter into 16th.

With three more 3-pointers, Mario Chalmers will move past Keith Askins into eighth place, with 276.

Two more free throws from Udonis Haslem will move him into seventh past Tim Hardaway, with 1,026. Eight more field goals for will move him into sixth place all-time past Eddie Jones with 2,142.

Eight more free throws will move LeBron James past Jamal Mashburn into 16th all time. Eight more assists will move him past Rony Seikaly into 18th all-time, with 574. 47 points for James moves him past Billy Thompson, into the top 20 with 2,221 points.

Team Leaders:

PPG:

LeBron James,31.5

Dwyane Wade, 25.0

Norris Cole, 13.5

RPG:

Udonis Haslem, 13.0

Chris Bosh, 9.0

LeBron James 8.0

APG:

Dwyane Wade, 7.0

LeBron James, 5.5

Mario Chalmers, 3.5

SPG:

Mario Chalmers, 4.5

LeBron James, Norris Cole 2.0

BPG:

Dwyane Wade, 2.5

LeBron James, Joel Anthony, 1.5

Photographs by cstreet.us, thelastminute, turtlemom nancy , fesek, kthypryn, justinwright, sue_elias, pointnshoot, and scrapstothefuture used in background montage under Creative Commons. Thank you.