Jimmy Butler has Found his Second Wind
Butler’s 39 points leads Bulls to 117–110 victory
The Chicago Bulls bullied the New Orleans Pelicans to a 117–110 victory on Sunday night, moving to only one game back from the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference. The win was due in large part to a huge performance from Jimmy Butler, who scored 39 points and 37 in the first three quarters.
The Bulls led comfortably for most of the game, and looked to be in control for almost all 48 minutes, putting themselves in good position to finish off their cupcake schedule in strong fashion.
The Bulls have won four games in a row and are now 6–4 over their last 10 games. It’s not completely out of the question that they could move as high as fifth in the East before this is all said and done. Before we go any further, though, let’s go through the game in a little more detail.
First Half
Chicago ran up a comfortable lead in almost no time, and it came almost exclusively from points in the paint. Despite having two of the most talented big men in the NBA with DeMarcus Cousins and Anthony Davis, the Bulls owned the rebounding battle from the get-go. It seemed like Chicago pulled down just about every 50–50 ball and turned them into second-chance points.
After the first 12 minutes, the Bulls led 28–21. They benefitted from a lot of off-ball movement, scoring a healthy portion of their 28 off of backdoor cuts. Denzel Valentine scored five quick points to start the second quarter on the right note, pushing the lead to 14. The bench had a bit of trouble stopping Davis and Cousins from scoring down low, but never enough to put the lead in danger. 25 points from Jimmy Butler and 13 from Bobby Portis was more than enough to head into the locker room with a 63–47 lead.
Second Half
It wouldn’t be a Bulls recap without a big lead in danger of disappearing, and tonight was certainly no exception. The third quarter saw Chicago lessen the aggressiveness just a bit. The first trip to the free throw line didn’t occur for the Bulls until over halfway through the quarter. A handful of 3-pointers from the Pelican’s was enough to make it interesting, shrinking the lead to six before a Jimmy Butler deep 3 would push it back up to nine. After three quarters, the Bulls led by eight, thanks to an astonishing 37 points from Butler
Chicago silenced their doubters with a 10–2 run to start the fourth quarter. Butler rested for a bit at the start of the quarter, worrying some that his absence would mean trouble, but Joffrey Lauvergne and Valentine were able to run up the score with some sweet 3-point shooting.
Things got dramatic down the stretch. Several trips to the free-throw line for DeMarcus Cousins helped bring the game to within six again, and just when it looked like New Orleans had a chance, Defensive Player of the Year frontrunner Paul Zipser had a nasty block on Jrue Holiday to seal the victory for the Bulls. Two more points from Butler removed any doubt, and Chicago finished with the 117–110 win.
Bright Spots
We have to start with Jimmy Butler. He put up 39/6/5 on 14-of-26 shooting, and he was a perfect 3-of-3 from 3-point range. Even for Butler’s standards, that’s a heck of a game. Butler is rounding into form as the playoffs approach, and his counterparts in the East should be afraid.
Bobby Portis had a great game as well, putting up 21 and 11 and sinking three 3-pointers, tying his career high. Portis was 9-0f-15 from the field and didn’t completely screw up on the defensive end, which is about all you can ask for at this point.
According to Cody Westerlund of 670TheScore.com, the Bulls have made at least 10 3-pointers for a franchise-record seven straight games. For a team with as many struggles from behind the arc as the Bulls, this is no small feat.
Head Scratchers
I should start by saying that there isn’t much to complain about with this Bulls performance. The following remarks are really just nitpicking.
A lot of the Bulls’ 11 turnovers came off very careless passes that then became transition opportunities for the Pelicans. Denzel Valentine especially has a bad habit of getting near the rim, panicking, and trying to make a highlight pass that lands squarely in an opponents hands.
Even though Paul Zipser saved the day with his block, it’s pretty stupid to be up by six down the stretch and trotting out a lineup with absolutely no rim protection. Robin Lopez hadn’t played in several minutes, and Felicio may still be coming back from injury, but you just can’t get away with that very often.
The Bulls head to Madison Square Garden on Tuesday to take on the Knicks. Until then, go Cubs!
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