MIAMI (AP) – Dwyane Wade scored 27 points and Shaquille O’Neal had his best scoring performance since returning from knee surgery to lead the Miami Heat to a 113-93 victory over the Charlotte Bobcats on Monday night.

O’Neal, who missed 32 games, hit his first four shots and scored 19 first-half points on 9-of-10 shooting. He finished with 22 points and was one of six players in double figures.

Miami never trailed after going on a 20-7 spurt to open a 28-15 first-quarter lead. Jason Kapono’s 3-pointer capped the run with 2:58 remaining.

The Bobcats cut a 17-point deficit to 96-87 on Raymond Felton’s 3-pointer with 5:49 remaining in the game, but Miami answered with 10 straight points over a 2:29 span to secure its fourth straight victory.

The Heat played without point guard Gary Payton, suspended by the league following his ejection for arguing with officials during Saturday’s win at Milwaukee.

Rookie Chris Quinn, who made his first career start in place of the injured Jason Williams and Payton, finished with 14 points.

Felton scored 20 points, and Emeka Okafor and Gerald Wallace each scored 19 for the Bobcats.

Early in the second, O’Neal made three field goals as Miami increased its lead to 43-24 with 8:46 left. The Heat shot 68 percent from the field in the first two quarters, the best for any half this season.

Charlotte, which trailed 65-47 at halftime, reduced Miami’s lead to 67-54 on Matt Carroll’s two free throws with 10:20 remaining in the third quarter.

But the Heat responded with a 10-1 run in the next 2:29 as Kapono and James Posey each hit 3-pointers and Wade added two field goals for a 77-55 lead.

Notes: Eddie Jones, who played 13 minutes and scored five points, made his first home appearance since Miami’s 2005 semifinal series against Detroit. Jones signed as a free agent last week. … Okafor grabbed 11 rebounds for his 29th double-double of the season.

AP-ES-02-05-07 2206EST