CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Primoz Brezec fought through a double team, spun to his left and sank a layup for a 2-0 lead.

With that, the NBA was back in Charlotte after a two-year absence.

The Bobcats opened their first season Thursday night with a 103-96 loss to the Washington Wizards, failing to become the third consecutive expansion team to win its NBA debut.

Replacing the Hornets after they moved to New Orleans in 2002, the Bobcats are expected to struggle mightily this season. Still, they were in this one late as they tried to match Vancouver and Toronto (1995) as inaugural game winners.

But Charlotte fell short because of youth and inexperience midway through the fourth quarter. The game was tied at 85 when turnovers and poor shot selection allowed the Wizards to go on a game-deciding 9-0 run.

Melvin Ely lost the ball while dribbling, and Eddie House foolishly fouled Juan Dixon as he made a Washington layup. It was a three-point swing after Dixon’s free throw, and the Bobcats appeared to unravel after that.

Heat 92, Cavaliers 86

MIAMI – Shaquille O’Neal made sure the arena was filled. Dwyane Wade took care of sending the record crowd home happy.

Wade scored 28 points and O’Neal added 17 points and nine rebounds in his home debut for his new team as Miami beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 92-86 Thursday night before 20,235 Shaq-crazed fans – the largest crowd to see a Heat home game.

O’Neal scored the game’s first points on Miami’s opening possession and the Heat never trailed, just as they didn’t at any time in Wednesday’s 23-point win at New Jersey.

Udonis Haslem had 15 points and Rasual Butler added 11 for Miami, off to a 2-0 start for the fourth time in its 17-year history.

Drew Gooden had 24 points and LeBron James had 21 points and eight rebounds for Cleveland (0-2). Zydrunas Ilgauskas, who tied a career-high with 35 points Wednesday in a double-overtime loss to Indiana, managed just eight against the Heat.

Cleveland was within 61-60 with 4:59 remaining in the third, but Wade scored six points in a 12-6 run that pushed Miami’s lead to 73-66 at the end of the quarter. And a 12-6 run midway through the fourth quarter, with Haslem getting five points, sealed the win.

A year ago, the crowd for Miami’s home opener was announced at 15,825 to reflect the number of tickets sold; perhaps 10,000 fans were actually in the arena. No numerical creativity was necessary Thursday.

Most of the fans were seated just to see O’Neal arrive for pregame warmups. They cheered when his face flashed on the jumbotron screens during the national anthem. And perhaps the loudest shouts came with 8:14 left in the first quarter, when he leaped over the Heat bench trying to save a loose ball.

Until now, Miami’s largest regular-season crowds were fueled by the drawing power of the opponent’s star; James lured 20,213 last April, and Michael Jordan’s last two visits with the Washington Wizards drew an average of 20,135.

This crowd wanted to see Shaq, and he wasted little time winning them over.

He had seven points in the first 31/2 minutes – never showing any ill effects of the strained left hamstring that bothered him throughout training camp. O’Neal played in six-minute spurts to protect the hamstring, but remained on the court until the game’s end, indicating that the Heat isn’t overly concerned with the injury.

O’Neal played 32 minutes, shooting 7-of-17 from the floor – and 3-for-9 from the foul line, putting him off to a 5-for-16 start to the season from the stripe.

Jeff McInnis had 14 points for Cleveland, which was held to 38.8 percent shooting.

Notes: Miami used a “Shaq in Black” offseason marketing campaign and wore black jerseys Thursday. Cleveland wore white, the home team’s traditional garb. The NBA approved the one-game move. … Cleveland F Scott Williams left in the first quarter with what appeared to be a dislocated right pinky finger, and didn’t return. … Miami won a home opener for the first time in three seasons. … The Cavs fell to 9-22 in Miami. … Mike Piazza of the New York Mets was booed when he appeared on the jumbotron; he won the crowd over by announcing Miami as his pick to win the 2005 NBA title. Later, Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez was also booed. … Wade addressed the crowd before the game, saying “Help us make some memorable moments like you all did last year.”

AP-ES-11-04-04 2302EST