Michael van Gerwens meeting with Robert Thornton is the highlight of a star-studded Wednesday night as the Grand Slam of Darts second round gets underway. After four days of group stage drama, 32 competitors have been whittled down to 16 with the next stage of the tournament taking place on Wednesday and Thursday evening.Of the eight BDO players who qualified five are remaining in the event that pits the best of darts two organisations against each other. Martin Adams, Scott Mitchell and former Grand Slam winner Scott Waites all crashed out in the group stages - Glen Durrant, Darryl Fitton, Jamie Hughes, Danny Noppert and Jeff Smith remain as the BDO look to win the event for just the second time.After a race to five legs in the group matches, the second round turns into a best of 19 contest with the first man to 10 legs making it through to Fridays quarter-final stage. Wednesdays Order of Play Gerwyn Price v Brendan Dolan Phil Taylor v Jeff Smith Michael van Gerwen v Robert Thornton Peter Wright v Daryl Fitton Topping the bill at the Wolverhampton Civic Hall on Wednesday night is world No 1 Van Gerwen, who is red hot favourite to defend the title he won for the first time last year.The Dutchman has won 23 times on tour this year including the UK Open, Premier League, World Matchplay and the World Grand Prix and in Robert Thornton he faces a revitalised opponent who doesnt have to look too far back for a high-profile win over Van Gerwen.The Scot beat Van Gerwen to claim the Grand Prix title in Dublin last year but since that title The Thorn has suffered a string of early tournament exits and an eighth place finish in the Premier League but he has shown glimpses of the form that has made him a two-time major winner.Van Gerwen claimed all three group games for the loss of just four legs, while Thornton needed a nine-leg shoot-out against Dimitri van den Bergh to progress having lost to Gerwyn Price after victories in his opening two matches. Robert Thornton beat Dimitri Van den Bergh in a thrilling nine-dart shoot-out, winning by just five points Also in action on Wednesday is Phil Taylor, the 16 time world champion showed that he is getting back to his best with victory in the Champions League of Darts and has his sights set an another big title.Sky Sports expert Wayne Mardle believes the leg format suits Taylor better than a sets format as there are less pressure darts.That will be put to the test against 2016 BDO runner-up Jeff Smith, who beat Simon Whitlock on Wednesday to clinch his place in the last 16. Jeff Smith edged out Simon Whitlock for the final place in the last 16. Picture: Lawrence Lustig/PDC Taylor was beaten 5-0 by Darren Webster in the final match of his group and having won his opening fixtures in routine fashion it remains to be seen whether that defeat to the Demolition Man was just a blip. Darren Webster stunned Phil Taylor at the Grand Slam of Darts in Wolverhampton Potential for match of the night comes in the final game of the evening when Peter Snakebite Wright continues his quest for a maiden major televised title against another BDO representative, the experienced Darryl Fitton.After losing to the Power in his opening group game. Fitton rallied to beat both Webster and Ian White 5-4 to quality for the second round and he will look to emulate the quarter-final place he made on his debut in 2008 to mark a memorable return to the event he has missed for each of the last five years.Kicking off the second-round action will be the clash between Northern Irelands Brendan Dolan and Welshman Gerwyn Price.Dolan beat Martin Wolfie Adams to secure his place in the knockout stages, while Price ended up topping his standings after a 5-3 win over Thornton on Wednesday night. Thursdays Second Round matches Jamie Hughes v Chris Dobey Benito van de Pas v James Wade Gary Anderson v Danny Noppert Raymond van Barneveld v Glenn Durrant Watch Wednesday nights matches at the Grand Slam of Darts from 7pm on Sky Sports 1 and Sky Sports Darts returns on December 12 with the World Championship underway from Deceember 15. #LoveTheDarts Live Grand Slam of Darts November 16, 2016, 7:00pm Live on Get Sky Sports Get a Sky Sports pass Also See: Is there a PDC-BDO rivalry? Thornton survives mis-count Hunter Renfroe Padres Jersey . The 30-year-old Texas native was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 20th round of the 2001 amateur draft. Duke spent six years in Pittsburgh and also had stints with Arizona, Washington and Cincinnati. Jose Pirela Jersey . The football club recently announced an increase in season ticket prices in five of the seven categories at Investors Group Field for 2014. 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And the lift he brought, combined with the expected playoff showings from LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, have the Heat off and running in these playoffs. James scored 27 points, Wade added 23 and the Heat rode two big runs -- one late in the first half, the other down the stretch -- to beat the Charlotte Bobcats 99-88 in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference first-round series. Miami trailed for much of the first half, but rallied and has now topped Charlotte 17 straight times. "We were flat to start," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "I think our guys were just anxious." Game 2 of the best-of-seven series is Wednesday. Al Jefferson will be getting plenty of treatment until then. Kemba Walker scored 20 points for the Bobcats, who started fast behind Jefferson -- who was diagnosed with a strained left plantar fascia after a misstep in the first quarter, and got a pair of injections just to continue playing. "We did some really good things today," Walker said. "We just have to keep executing throughout the game. We cant get rattled." Jefferson still finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds -- yet in what cant be a real exciting sign for Charlotte, he left the arena in a walking boot. "Just got to suck it up, man," said Jefferson, who confessed that hes no fan of needles but insisted he doesnt plan on sitting out. Gary Neal scored 17 and Josh McRoberts added 15 for Charlotte, which shot only 12 free throws compared to 26 by Miami, and allowed the Heat to turn their 15 turnovers into 20 points. "If were going to have 15 turnovers, were not going to win," Bobcats coach Steve Clifford said. Miami sealed it with an 18-4 run in the fourth, all but three of those points coming with James getting a rest. Luke Ridnour made a high-arcing baseline jumper over Ray Allen with 10:29 left to get Charlotte within 74-69. Thats when James got a breather. He returned to breathing room. Chris Andersen had a tip-in for a 12-point lead, Wade -- who shot 10 for 16 -- made a 33-pointer as the shot clock was winding down with 6:50 left to make it 85-70, and another score by Andersen pushed the margin to 17.dddddddddddd With that, Game 1 was secure. "That group that was in once I took that break at the 10-minute mark in the fourth quarter, they just bumped the lead," James said. "Obviously, to have three Hall of Famers in the game when Im out of the game, CB, D-Wade and Ray ... that was big-time." So was Jones. He didnt play in the first half of any playoff game last season and was out of the rotation much of this year. But when he checked in with 4:19 left in the half Sunday, Miami led 35-34. "Hell of a spark," Wade said. Before long, it was 47-36, Jones scoring four of those late as Miami was wrapping up a 19-2 run. He added five more in the third, and his 3-pointer with 10:08 left kickstarted what became the game-deciding spurt down the stretch. "When youre dressed, youre expected to perform," Jones said. Two years ago, it was Mike Miller giving a lift to the Heat in that off-the-bench role. Last year, it was Miller and Shane Battier sharing those honours. Miller is in Memphis now, Battier is out of the rotation, and that means a door may be opening for Jones. "Hes going to be a very, very key ingredient to our success," James said. Charlotte had four players making their first playoff starts. It was also the first national-television appearance this season for the Bobcats, who seemed anything but overwhelmed by the moment. Walker made a 3-pointer to beat the first-half buzzer, drawing Charlotte within 49-42. That started an 11-0 run by the Bobcats, who scored the first eight of the third quarter to reclaim a one-point lead. And the third stayed close, neither team leading by more than three for the majority of the third. But the Heat closed strong behind Jones and James, who made a 3-pointer with 0.6 seconds left for a 72-65 Miami lead entering the fourth. NOTES: With his final point, James passed Larry Bird for No. 8 on the leagues all-time playoff scoring list. ... Miami is 61-8 over the last three seasons when making at least 10 3-pointers. ... Charlotte was returning home after the game, taking advantage of the long break before Game 2. ' ' '