CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- LeBron James heard the cheers from the crowd as he lay on the court holding his right thigh and writhing in pain. It only seemed to awaken the four-time league MVP. James scored 19 of his game-high 31 points after sustaining a thigh bruise early in the third quarter, helping the Miami Heat earn a first-round sweep of the Charlotte Bobcats with a 109-98 victory Monday night. He finished Game 4 10 of 19 from the field and had nine assists. "Its definitely sore," James said. "Im fortunate we were able to close out tonight and I can give it a little rest." He should have plenty of time. The two-time defending NBA champions will await the winner of Brooklyn-Toronto series, which is tied 2-2. If that series goes the distance it wont wrap up until Sunday. James said playing Charlotte was a good first test and Miami is headed in the right direction as it looks to win its third straight NBA championship. "We got tested by a young, scrappy Bobcats team," said James, who averaged 36.2 points in eight games against Charlotte this season. "We responded with a championship-type attitude." Chris Bosh added 17 points and Dwyane Wade battled through foul trouble and finished with 15 as Miami extended its winning streak over Charlotte to 20 games. The Heat improved to 16-2 in first-round games since James arrival four years ago. This was the second straight year the Heat swept their first-round series, taking out Milwaukee in four games last season. This was Miamis ninth consecutive series victory. "We improved every game and thats the most important thing about this series," James said. Miami began to take control midway through the third quarter shortly after James gave his teammates a scare when he drove to the basket from the left wing and his right thigh collided with Bismack Biyombos knee, sending James to the floor. Concerned teammates gathered around him and he was down for about a minute. James eventually got up and hobbled to the bench where sat down during a timeout. But he stayed in the game. After the timeout he buried a 3-pointer and a long jumper before a one-handed dunk to help give Miami a 73-66 lead with 4:51 left in the third quarter. Miami pushed the lead to 13 when Norris Cole knocked down a 3-point buzzer-beater from the right corner at the end of the quarter. Charlotte never got closer than seven points in the fourth quarter. Down the stretch, the Heat went to James time and time again with Wade on the bench with five fouls. James scored 11 points in the fourth quarter, taking advantage of a size advantage against Gerald Henderson. "LeBron was terrific during that stretch of the fourth quarter," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "I thought the last 5 minutes of the fourth quarter there was great execution and trust and the ball was moving and it was just working to the open guy. That was encouraging to see, especially at that time in the game." The Bobcats played without Al Jefferson, their leading scorer and rebounder who has been bothered by a foot injury since the first quarter of Game 1. "If you take away the best offensive player from any team in the league it dramatically changes your team," Bobcats coach Steve Clifford said. Kemba Walker picked up the slack, playing tough throughout and finishing with 29 points on 11-of-15 shooting. "He showed that he is not afraid of the moment," Clifford said. "He had a really good year and finished in a good way so we should be happy about him." Walker called the game a good learning experience for the inexperienced Bobcats. "At the same time its our first go-around in the playoffs for a lot of us and we can only go up from here," Walker said. In the end, turnovers again spelled doom for the Bobcats. They turned it over 16 times, leading to 22 Heat points, including two dunks by James. The loss signalled the end of an era for the Bobcats. They will become the Hornets next season. Before the game the Heat showed solidarity with the Los Angeles Clippers over the Donald Sterling controversy. Like the Clippers on Sunday, the Heat ran out of the tunnel wearing their warmups, huddled at centre court and tossed their white shooting T-shirts to the ground. They then went through their pregame routine with their red Heat warmup jerseys inside out, hiding the teams logo. NOTES: Charlotte never won a post-season game as the Bobcats in franchise history. ... James scored at least 20 points in all four games. ... Tyler Zeller of the Cleveland Cavaliers was in the crowd cheering on his brother Cody, a rookie with the Bobcats. Air Jordan Baratas .com) - Graeme McDowell opened up with a first- round, 5-under 67 on Thursday and he holds a 2-shot lead at the WGC - HSBC Champions. Zapatillas Baratas . -- At the beginning of training camp, Andrew Bogut set a goal to play all 82 regular-season games and regain his place among the NBAs best centres. https://www.zapatillasbaratasspain.es/za...nline-d988.html. Right-hander Todd Redmond took the loss. Jose Bautista hit his second home run of the spring. Here are a handful of tidbits from around camp: Hutchison impressive The Blue Jays are being cautious when talking about their young arms but internally, excitement is building over the way Drew Hutchison is looking and performing this spring. Zapatillas Baratas España . The fourth-year guard from Carleton University kicked off his varsity career with rookie of the year honours in 2011, before racking up three straight Mike Moser Memorial Trophies for outstanding player. Zapatillas Yeezy Spain .com) - Generally you want to be the guy who replaces the guy who replaced the legend.BATA, Equatorial Guinea - Unfancied Republic of Congo went top of Group A at the African Cup of Nations with a surprise 1-0 win over Gabon on Wednesday after host Equatorial Guinea and Burkina Faso played out a 0-0 draw.The Congolese ground out a victory — their first at the tournament in over 20 years — that will re-energize their campaign, with Prince Oniangue poking in from close range early in the second half and against the run of play.The result was unfair, Gabon coach Jorge Costa said, as the Gabonese did most of the attacking and couldnt find a finishing touch to follow up their impressive win over Burkina Faso in the first round of games.Football is like this ... When you make mistakes, you lose games, Costa said.The loss dropped Gabon to second in the group, with Equatorial Guinea third and Burkina Faso, the 2013 finalist, last. But just three points separate the top team from the bottom team ahead of the final round of games.Still, Republic of Congo is in a good position to make the quarterfinals after qualifying for the African Cup for the first time in 15 years. Its last appearance in the quarters was in 1992. It won the title in 1972.Having missed out on seven successive African Cups before this year, Republic of Congo only needs a draw against Burkina Faso in their last group game to make the last eight.Goalscorers had problems in the days first match at Bata Stadiumm, too, as Equatorial Guinea and Burkina Faso wasted chance after chance in their stalemate.ddddddddddddThat left the home fans frustrated after Equatorial Guinea survived waves of pressure from the Burkinabes in the first half — when Alain Traore hit the post twice — and emerged the better team in the second.Javier Balboa set up two clear chances for his teammates, but both were wasted. Equatorial Guinea now has a tough assignment against Gabon in the last round of matches to try and claim a place in the quarters at its tournament.It was a bad day all round for the local fans, with some of them clashing with riot police outside the stadium around the time Equatorial Guineas game was kicking off.Equatorial Guineas preparations for the African Cup have come under scrutiny after it had just two months to organize the tournament following Moroccos late withdrawal as host. The tournament had been going OK, but some fans tried to force their way into Wednesdays game, according to witnesses, when they clashed with police near a gate at the outer perimeter of the stadium complex.Ticket control at the main Bata Stadium — where the final will be held on Feb. 8 — appeared to be slack, with ticket machines closer to the stadium not functioning and fans able to wander in and out of them without tickets being checked.___Gerald Imray is on Twitter at www.twitter.com/GeraldImrayAP ' ' '