Nov 1, 2015; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Bulls guard Jimmy Butler (21) drives past Orlando Magic guard Victor Oladipo (5) during the second half at the United Center. Chicago won 92-87. Mandatory Credit: Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports
The Good
- Jimmy Butler was fantastic on the defensive end during Sunday night’s win. The offense is still a work in progress for everyone, including Butler, but Butler showed why he’s an All-Defense candidate every season. Not only did Butler rack up four steals on Sunday, his block on Victor Oladipo to seal the game was a perfect cap to his night.
OladiNO. pic.twitter.com/3gmEBJ9LmJ
— Michael Whitlow (@couldbelikemike) November 2, 2015
- There were some big plays that went the Bulls way on Sunday down the stretch after blowing a 15-point lead with seven minutes in the game, but none may have been bigger than Butler’s … uh, steal(?) with the Bulls clinging to a four-point lead late, and his save off a bad inbound pass from Derrick Rose in the final seconds.
Jumpman Jumpman Jumpman. (No really, Butler is with Jordan Brand.) pic.twitter.com/JLG6g4YtDq
— Michael Whitlow (@couldbelikemike) November 2, 2015
When Butler saved this pass — which led to Rose making two free throws after being intentionally fouled — the Bulls were able to ice the game.
- The usage (and play) of Pau Gasol and Joakim Noah on Sunday was a nice boost for the Bulls. Here’s a great point from K.C. Johnson’s short recap of the Bulls-Magic game for the Chicago Tribune.
"In perhaps the textbook example of using Gasol and Noah, the centers missed by 13 seconds splitting the 48 minutes exactly evenly. Gasol produced 16 points and eight rebounds in his 23:47. Noah had eight points, nine rebounds and four assists in his 24:13. “Pau got us off to a nice start and had a good rhythm. Joakim’s energy was terrific off the bench,” Hoiberg said. It won’t go as smoothly all games. But it’s clear Hoiberg, who is now using offense-defense substitutions between those two down the stretch of close games, is going to use those centers similarly if they’re not in foul trouble."
Gasol seemed to find a good rhythm offensively early on, while Noah provided a good spark with Taj Gibson off the bench and helped the Bulls push the lead out to double digits in the first half. It’s not the prettiest on the offensive end for the Bulls with Gibson and Noah are together, but defensively, the Bulls looked real sharp at times when the backup front court pairing was together.
Next: The Bad: Derrick Rose and the poor shooting numbers