MIAMI, March 16 (Ticker) -- With rookie Dwyane Wade, Caron Butler and Rafer Alston connecting from the outside, the Miami Heat did not need Lamar Odom in the fourth quarter.

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Wade scored 23 points, Butler added 21 and Alston eight of his 17 in the fourth quarter as the Heat overcame the ejection of Odom to beat the New Orleans Hornets, 96-83, and record their sixth straight home win.

Odom was ejected with 1:58 left in the third quarter for picking up his second technical foul. After driving in the lane, Odom crashed into Hornets swingman Stacey Augmon, who was called for a blocking foul, and several players had to be separated after pushing and shoving broke out.

Odom made his first free throw, then was given a technical foul for arguing with Hornets forward Robert Traylor, who had been involved in the minor skirmish after the play. Samaki Walker replaced Odom and sank the second free throw to give Miami a 68-56 lead.

"I wasn't taunting," Odom said. "I was just sticking up for my teammates. I do understand that the foul just happened under the basket, then there was a little skirmish and maybe (the referee) felt like he needed to clean everything up. I was just telling Traylor that he can go ahead with that, but he's barking up the wrong tree."

"We lost our heads for a while there," Heat coach Stan Van Gundy said. "In all fairness, that was an extremely difficult game to officiate when they made it very physical. I mean, on screens, they're grabbing peoples' arms. It wasn't even physical stuff, not good basketball. There was a lot of cheap stuff. That's hard (to officiate)."

Three minutes earlier, All-Star Hornets center Jamaal Magloire had been handed an automatic ejection for throwing the ball into the stands after being whistled for a loose ball foul.

"I think we got a little frustrated tonight," Hornets coach Tim Floyd said. "They got the better of the emotional part of the game."

Miami never trailed but held just a 70-66 lead early in the fourth quarter before Butler and Alston made back-to-back 3-pointers to open a 10-point cushion with 10:18 remaining. The Hornets got no closer than six points thereafter.

"We are trying to show a lot of people that it's not a fluke down here in Miami," Butler said. "We stayed mature throughout the process. A lot of teams will back down when the Hornets get a little aggressive. We showed a lot of character tonight. Through all their antics, we stayed mature tonight and kept our heads. We let our game do the talking instead of just fighting with them."

Alston, who went 3-of-7 from the arc, set a team record for consecutive games with a 3-pointer (34) on one with 18 seconds left in the first quarter.

"It was great to get the 3-pointer early so I didn't have to worry about it no more," Alston said. "To have a Heat record in this organization with so many fine players such as Tim Hardaway, Dan Majerle and Voshon Lenard is great."

Baron Davis had 23 points, nine rebounds and five assists for the Hornets, who shot just 38 percent (28-of-73) as they dropped their sixth consecutive road contest.

"This was a terrible loss for us. We have to put that behind us and play better tomorrow (vs. Philadelphia)," Davis said. "We had 10 assists and 21 turnovers, and that is a big reason why we lost this game tonight."

The Heat are tied with New York for the final two playoff spots in the Eastern Conference, one-half game behind sixth-place Cleveland and one game in front of ninth-place Boston.

The Hornets remained one game ahead of Milwaukee for fourth place and home-court advantage in a first-round matchup.

"That's what I think a playoff atmosphere is like," Wade said. "I would like to play that game any day. Tempers were flaring. Everybody out there wanted to win. We have enough character on this team to go out and get the win."