The Miami Heat (29 - 22) defeated the Charlotte Hornets (24 - 26) 98 - 95 on the back of a 10 - point, 10 - rebound, 10 - block triple - double from center Hassan Whiteside. Miami has now won six of its last seven games. The Heat have slowly but surely worked their way up to tied for first in the Southeast Division, largely due to the play of All-Star starter and reigning Eastern Conference Player of the Week Dwyane Wade. Wade delivered on Saturday with a team - leading 22 points. The real story, however, was defensive anchor Hassan Whiteside's rare points - rebounds - blocks triple - double. The recently - returned star provided a huge defensive spark off the bench for the Heat. Charlotte, despite the loss, has begun to turn things around after a horrendous start to the new year. The Hornets have now won five of their last eight despite the absence of center Al Jefferson. The team came close to a win on Friday, rolling with Miami to the very end of the fourth. Power forward Marvin Williams exploded for a game - high 27 points, leading the Hornets' scoring effort. Meanwhile, forward Nicolas Batum delivered 21 points to go with six rebounds and seven assists. The impressive efforts were not enough, however, to trump Miami. The Hornets will host Washinton on Saturday. Miami, meanwhile, does not see action again until Sunday, when they take on the Los Angeles Clippers.
["PlayerStat(G,'Dwyane Wade') has 22 Assists ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'Hassan Whiteside') has 10 Assists ,has 10 Blocks ,has 10 Points ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'Marvin Williams') has 27 Assists ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'Nicolas Batum') has 7 Assists ,has 21 Blocks ,has 6 Points ."]