A Bobcats executive has confirmed there was an altercation Sunday night in the team locker room between coach Paul Silas and forward Tyrus Thomas.

   The incident, first reported by Yahoo!, took place after Charlotte's 94-82 loss to the Boston Celtics. It was confirmed by President of Basketball Operations Rod Higgins.

   According to the report, Silas took exception to Thomas for fraternizing with some Celtics players and yelled at him after the game. Shouting ensued and the 68-year-old Silas shoved Thomas toward his locker stall and the two were separated.

   Higgins says the incident has been handled internally. Silas declined to comment.

   Thomas says, "Rod made a statement and we're going to leave it at that."

On Wednesday night, Richard Hamilton scored 22 points in just 24 minutes as the Chicago Bulls took a step closer to wrapping up the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs with a 100-68 rout of the dreadful Bobcats.

   Hamilton made his first seven shots from the field, including four from beyond the arc and the outcome was never in doubt.

   Despite playing without leading scorers Derrick Rose and Luol Deng, the Bulls shot 48 percent from the floor and connected on 9 of 19 shots from 3-point range to bounce back from Tuesday night's surprising 87-84 loss to the Washington Wizards.