CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A year ago, the Miami Heat couldn't wait to finish a horrendous, injury-plagued season. Now Dwyane Wade and his young teammates plan to be playing deep into the spring thanks to one of the biggest turnarounds in NBA history.

As usual, Wade led the Heat's latest milestone, scoring 27 points and dishing out 10 assists last night as Miami clinched a playoff berth with a 97-92 comeback victory over the Charlotte Bobcats.

A year after going 15-67, the Heat (40-36) joined the 1968-69 San Diego Rockets — a team that included Heat president Pat Riley — as the second NBA team to reach the postseason after winning 15 or fewer games the year before. The Rockets also recovered from a 15-67 disaster.

"It's a huge accomplishment for this team," Wade said, "to come back after that season and not really make huge, huge changes."

Wade, whose injuries derailed last season, made three free throws in the final 19 seconds as the Heat recovered from an early 15-point deficit. Charlotte's Raymond Felton then missed a tying 3-point attempt with 5 seconds left as the Bobcats suffered a damaging loss to their own playoff hopes.

The Bobcats, who lost guard Raja Bell to a right calf injury in the third quarter, fell two games behind idle Chicago for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

"We can't lose anymore at this point," Felton said. "Every game is a critical game. Six more, we've got to go 6-0."

CELTICS 104, HAWKS 92

Paul Pierce scored 21 points, Rajon Rondo added 20, and host Boston maintain its hold of the second-best record in the Eastern Conference by beating Atlanta, which erased a 52-48 halftime lead with the first two baskets of the third quarter, but was then outscored 10-0 and never led again.

SPURS 126, PACERS 121

Tony Parker had 31 points and 10 assists, Tim Duncan added 22 points and 11 rebounds, and visiting San Antonio led 64-55 at intermission and never trailed thereafter in a victory over Indiana to close to a half-game behind idle Denver in the race for the No. 2 seed in the West.

TRAIL BLAZERS 107, THUNDER 72

LaMarcus Aldridge had 35 points and 18 rebounds, and visiting Portland used a 16-1 run, capped by a turnaround jumper in the lane and a tip-in by Aldridge for a 69-41 lead in the third quarter and Oklahoma City never got within 20 after that.

MAGIC 116, CAVALIERS 87

Dwight Howard had 20 points and 11 rebounds, and host Orlando rode a hot second-half start to go ahead by 41 points in handing Cleveland its most lopsided loss of the season to remain percentage points behind Boston — but tied in the loss column — for the East's second seed.

TIMBERWOLVES 103, JAZZ 102

Ryan Gomes scored 25 points, including a tiebreaking 3-pointer with a minute left, and Mike Miller made a jumper for a 103-100 lead with 32 seconds left to help Minnesota snap a nine-game road skid, while ending Utah's 15-game home winning streak.

GRIZZLIES 107, MAVERICKS 102

Rudy Gay had 27 points and 10 rebounds, Mike Conley added 25 points, and O.J. Mayo hit a 3-pointer and 17-footer for a 103-100 lead with 1:14 to play, and host Memphis made 5 of 6 free throws in the final 35 seconds to beat Dallas for its third straight victory.

SUNS 139, KINGS 111

Steve Nash had 29 points and nine assists, then sat out the fourth quarter as host Phoenix beat Sacramento, and combined with Dallas' 107-102 loss at Memphis, left the Suns three games behind the Mavericks for the final playoff spot in the West with six to play.

LAKERS 93, ROCKETS 81

Pau Gasol had 23 points and 10 rebounds, Kobe Bryant added 20 points, and the host Los Angeles Lakers picked up their 60th victory while dropping Houston one game behind first-place San Antonio in the Southwest Division.

WARRIORS 111, HORNETS 103

Jamal Crawford scored 29 points, Anthony Randolph added 20 points and 15 rebounds, and Anthony Morrow hit a 3-pointer for a 99-92 lead with 2:36 left to help host Golden State turn back New Orleans.

NOTES

Pistons: Detroit announced yesterday that All-Star guard Allen Iverson will miss the rest of the season — and the playoffs if they make it — because of a sore back.

"After talking with Allen and our medical staff, we feel that resting Allen for the remainder of the season is the best course of action at this time," Pistons president of basketball operations Joe Dumars said in a statement released by the team. "While he has played in our last three games, he is still feeling some discomfort and getting him physically ready to compete at the level he is accustomed to playing this late in the season does not seem possible at this point."

Knicks: New York rookie Danilo Gallinari will have back surgery next week and is expected to make a full recovery in six to eight weeks.

The Knicks announced yesterday that Gallinari will have surgery Tuesday at the Hospital for Special Surgery in Manhattan, performed by an orthopedic spine specialist. Taken with the No. 6 pick in the draft, Gallinari missed most of the first 2 1/2 months after experiencing back pain in the summer league. He finished the season with an average of 6.1 points in 28 games.