After being convinced to sit out the previous two games with a strained left shoulder, Heat forward Udonis Haslem said the medical staff would have to drug him to keep him off the court Sunday against New Orleans.

Turns out, it was Haslem who left the opposition feeling a bit woozy.

Haslem's desperation jumper off the glass with 15.4 seconds left delivered the final blow and the Heat's defense shut down the Hornets in a 102-101 victory at AmericanAirlines Arena.

David West missed a short jumper in the lane with 1.9 seconds left for the Hornets (6-9), who overcame an 11-point deficit to pull ahead late in the fourth but couldn't finish off the job.

``I would have been real, real frustrated if they told me I couldn't play today,'' Haslem said. ``I wanted to go out and help my team win.''

The victory ended a three-game losing streak for the Heat (8-5), with all three defeats coming after Haslem aggravated the injury a week ago during an 81-80 win against New Jersey. It took a miraculous three-pointer from Dwyane Wade with one-tenth of a second remaining to avert that disaster against the Nets.

On Sunday, Haslem fired off his game-winning jumper from the same right-wing angle as Wade, only a few feet inside the three-point line. With Wade smothered by a trapping defense and several other Heat players passing up open looks, Haslem stepped into two huge shots.

``That's what Udonis does,'' Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. ``He's an aggressive receiver. You can count on him in those situations because he loves to step up. He relishes them.''

Haslem finished with 14 points and seven rebounds to round out a string of solid contributions in support of Wade's team-high 31 points, six rebounds and three blocked shots.

It was perhaps the most complete performance for the Heat in weeks. Wade handled the bulk of the scoring, but Michael Beasley got a team-high nine rebounds along with 17 points.

Point guard Mario Chalmers contributed 12 points, led the team with nine assists and had only one turnover just one game after he scored a career-high 30 points.

DEFENSIVE STOPPER

Jermaine O'Neal finished with 15 points and anchored the Heat's final defensive stand when he was isolated at the top of the key against West, who waved off teammates with 10 seconds left to take the final shot.

After giving up 31 points in the third quarter and watching its 11-point lead turn into a 95-91 deficit with 6:23 left, the Heat went into lockdown mode. The Heat held the Hornets to only one field goal over the final six minutes of the game.

Rookie guard Marcus Thornton, whose draft rights were traded by the Heat in June, scored a career-high 24 off the bench to lead the Hornets, who had a three-game win streak end. The Heat had been 0-5 this season when allowing 100 or more points. But the defense came around in the end and Miami held New Orleans to 39.6 percent shooting.

The Heat had allowed an average of 108.3 points and 49.5 percent field goal shooting in the three losses to Toronto, Atlanta and Oklahoma City.

HOT OPPONENT

But the Heat stopped a hot Hornets team that had beaten Atlanta and Phoenix during its winning streak in the absence of Chris Paul, who is out with ankle injury.

``We want to play better and more consistently,'' Wade said. ``We had some great moments in the game defensively, doing what we normally do. At the end of the day, any win in the NBA is important.''

Now, the goal is to carry Sunday's momentum into another tough challenge Wednesday at Orlando.

``Sometimes, a win like this can spark us,'' Spoelstra said. ``Even if it wasn't a perfectly played game.''