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Silas' Bobcats welcome Bulls to town

Jan 12, 2011 - 4:35 PM (Sports Network) - The Charlotte Bobcats look to keep the momentum going under head coach Paul Silas, who will guide his team tonight against the Chicago Bulls at Time Warner Cable Arena.

Charlotte is 5-2 since Silas took over for Larry Brown in late December and is coming off its third straight win, a 96-82 triumph versus the Memphis Grizzlies on Monday.

Stephen Jackson scored a game-high 27 points, D.J. Augustin added 18 points and nine assists and Matt Carroll registered 12 points off the bench for the Bobcats, who are 2-0 on a three-game homestand and 10-9 as the host this season.

"I thought our defense was excellent tonight," Silas said. "We kept them off the boards...We really contested shots and switched when we were supposed to...I thought that was the reason we prevailed."

The Bobcats are hoping to get forward Gerald Wallace back into the lineup tonight and he's missed four straight and nine of 11 games with an ankle injury. He is averaging 16.5 points, 8.2 rebounds and 2.4 assists this season.

Charlotte center Nazr Mohammed is expected to miss the game with a bone bruise in his right knee. Mohammed has missed four games in a row and is posting 8.0 points and 5.2 boards this season.

Meanwhile, the Bulls hope to avoid losing a season-high three straight road games when they begin a quick trek through Charlotte and Indiana tonight. They are 8-9 as the visitor this season and are coming off back-to-back wins over the Celtics and Pistons.

In Monday's 95-82 victory over the Pistons, Derrick Rose finished with 29 points and seven assists for Chicago, which posted its seventh straight win at home and improved to 16-4 in the past 20 contests.

Carlos Boozer notched a double-double with 27 points and 11 rebounds, while Luol Deng added 17 points and eight rebounds for the Bulls. Boozer has 10 double-doubles in his last 12 games.

"The first half we didn't play that well. The second half we were great," Boozer said. "We got back in the game because of our defense, and that's why we won."

The Bulls won three of four meetings with Charlotte a year ago and is 10-5 in the past 15 contests in this series. Chicago and Charlotte have split the past six matchups at Time Warner Cable Arena.