NEW YORK (Reuters) -- Shaquille O'Neal celebrated his 34th birthday with 35 points in leading the Miami Heat to a 106-105 overtime victory over the Charlotte Bobcats in National Basketball Association play at Charlotte Arena on Monday.

Scoring all of Miami's eight overtime points, O'Neal made all four of his shot attempts in the extra session as the Heat struggled to overcome the Bobcats for a season-high ninth straight win.

O'Neal also hauled down 12 rebounds and told reporters after the game he intended to celebrate his birthday quietly after the difficult win.

"It'll be a pretty low key night,' O'Neal said. "Actually every day is my birthday."

It was the Bobcats who appeared set to celebrate on Monday when they took advantage of Miani guard Dwyane Wade's absence to take an early 15-point lead.

Wade sat out once again with a sprained wrist as the Heat struggled early without their leading scorer.

Charlotte led 59-52 at the half and by eight points after three quarters, but the Heat outscored the Bobcats 31-23 in the fourth quarter to set the stage for overtime.

Jason Williams added 24 points for the Heat, while Udonis Haslem had 16 points and 13 rebounds.

Antoine Walker also scored 16 points for the Heat, who improved to 39-20, the second best record in the Eastern Conference behind the Detroit Pistons.

Gerald Wallace had 26 points and 15 rebounds for the Bobcats, while Brevin Knight had 24 points and 11 assists.

Raymond Felton added 19 points for the Bobcats, who lost their second straight to slip to 16-45.

Miami coach Pat Riley told reporters that O'Neal was the difference in the game.

"He's playing extremely well, we're winning and he's stepping up," Riley said.

In East Rutherford, Mike Bibby scored 29 points and had 10 assists as the Sacramento Kings beat the New Jersey Nets 109-84.

Brad Miller scored 21 points and Bonzi Wells added 16 points and had 10 rebounds for the Kings.

Vince Carter scored 21 points and Richard Jefferson scored 18 for the Nets.

In Oklahoma City, Boris Diaw scored 20 points and had 12 rebounds as the Phoenix Suns beat the New Orleans Hornets 101-88.

Shawn Marion added 19 points and had 16 rebounds for the Suns.

David West scored 22 points for the Hornets.

In Denver, Carmelo Anthony scored 35 points as the Nuggets beat the Memphis Grizzlies 115-101.

Earl Boykins scored 15 points and had 10 assists and Andre Miller added 14 points and had 11 assists for the Nuggets.

Bobby Jackson scored 22 points and Mike Miller added 15 for the Grizzlies.

In Salt Lake City, Mehmet Okur scored 22 points as the Utah Jazz beat the Orlando Magic 90-85.

Andrei Kirilenko scored 18 points for the Jazz.

Dwight Howard scored 18 points and had 14 rebounds for the Magic.