CHARLOTTE, NC, April 3 (Ticker) -- The Miami Heat's postseason hopes appear to have been Mashed.

Jamal Mashburn, a former member of the Heat, scored 10 points in the final five minutes as the Charlotte Hornets posted a 97-90 triumph over the Heat, who dropped 4 1/2 games out of the final playoff position with eight games left.

Mashburn finished with 22 points and Baron Davis added 22, 10 assists and seven rebounds for the Hornets, who entered the contest in a three-way tie for fifth place in the Eastern Conference with Philadelphia and Milwaukee.

"(It's) good to get a win in a back-to-back, especially against a physical Miami team," said Mashburn, whose team lost at New York on Tuesday. "They make you work for all the things you get. It's important for us to keep on winning and work hard in order to get to the playoffs and to be successful in the playoffs."

NBA TV highlights from Heat-Hornets: 56k | 300k Budget Fastbreak: 56k | 300k Pick a stat, any stat. Baron Davis filled 'em all, although he recorded no blocks. Garrett W. Ellwood NBAE/Getty Images

"We had to double a lot and they beat it by good passing and by some good shooting by Jamal Mashburn with two people on him,"

Heat coach Pat Riley said. "Baron was really making the three tonight. That is the biggest improvement in his game this year. He is just a bulldog."

After Mashburn hit a 3-pointer midway through the third quarter to give Charlotte its biggest advantage at 60-49, Miami went on a 20-4 burst through the beginning of the fourth quarter.

Charlotte responded with a mini-run of its own and took a 78-75 lead on a jumper by Stacey Augmon with 6:28 left. After Rod Strickland hit a jumper to get the Heat within one, Brian Grant mishandled a rebound of a miss by Jamaal Magloire and accidentally tipped it in with 5:33 left, and Charlotte pulled away soon thereafter.

"I'd love to give you all answers, but I don't have none," Grant said. "I can't tell you why I tipped the ball in, either. I mean, (stuff) happens."

Eddie Jones scored 27 points and Grant added 12 with 11 rebounds for Miami, which has lost seven of its last eight games.

"We were right there again tonight," Riley said. "We let it get away from us again. We have to overcome something every night, and tonight it was their advantage at the free-throw line. We played hard but just could not get it."

Charlotte made 24-of-36 free throws, while Miami connected on just 12-of-16.

The Hornets shot 47 percent from the field while the Heat shot 45 percent. But Charlotte nailed 70 percent from the arc (7-of-10) while Miami made 38 percent (6-of-16).

"We had plenty of breakdowns defensively," Jones said. "We were really trying to make things happen. It's really about us continuing to go out and trying to win. It's all about winning."

Charlotte, which led by three points after one quarter and 10 at halftime before Miami's third-quarter run, outrebounded the Heat, 49-36, and had more second-chance points, 21-8.

"Down the stretch, we weren't making defensive plays," Mourning said. "We didn't get the stops we needed. ... We have to play better. They outrebounded us. It came down to them getting more second chances."