Bulls look to build on home win streak

The Bulls might be close to solving a persistent problem this season - winning at home.

Monday's 87-71 victory over Milwaukee was the Bulls' fourth straight at the United Center. If they can stretch the streak to five Wednesday against Charlotte, it would be a season high.

Once 2-5 at home this season, the Bulls are now 17-11. They are 19-10 on the road.

"You take the schedule as it comes," Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said Tuesday. "Sometimes it's in your favor, and in this league it's very easy to get distracted."

The Charlotte game will be the third date in a seven-game homestand, so this is the right time to learn how to win at the United Center. Some of the Bulls' Eastern Conference rivals are experiencing the opposite.

Coming out of the all-star break, Toronto had nine of 11 games on the road and is off to a 1-2 start. Cleveland gets 11 of its first 14 on the road after the break.

As of Tuesday morning, the Bulls were 1½ games behind the Raptors for second place in the East, and a game ahead of the Cavs. Fifth-place Washington has lost eight of its last 10 games.

Snell can excel:

Here are the numbers for Tony Snell over the last five games: 14.6 points on 70 percent shooting. He hit 13 of 22 3-pointers in that stretch.

Is there an award for most improved from the first half of the season to the second?

"He's had moments before. This is probably his most consistent stretch," coach Tom Thibodeau said. "We want him to keep building on that. His defense, he has a much better grasp now of understanding it's body on body. You can't get around that part of it. His body position is better.

"He has a better understanding of who his opponents are and what his team responsibilities are. He's playing with more physicality, which is important. You have to be able to do more than just shoot. I thought he ran the floor really hard (Monday)."

Land of Lincoln:

Nothing like getting an early start on ticket sales. The Bulls announced tickets will go on sale Friday for a preseason game in Lincoln, Neb., against the Dallas Mavericks on Oct. 23. For what it's worth, the Bulls mentioned the University of Nebraska's practice facility as one of the blueprints they used when designing the new Advocate Center.