Chicago Bulls at Portland Trail Blazers: Four Takeaways, Butler Shines
Jimmy’s Helluva November
Bulls star Jimmy Butler kept right up with his spectacular play, giving himself a strong case for Eastern Conference Player of the Month for November. Look at these numbers from 670TheScore’s Cody Westerlund:
Jimmy Butler in his past 4 games:
— Cody Westerlund (@CodyWesterlund) November 16, 2016
30.8 ppg
7.0 rpg
6.5 apg
3.0 spg
51.3 FG%
40-44 FTs (90.9%)
Those are All-NBA type numbers, and they’re yet another example of Butler showing us that his ceiling is higher than we think it is. Against the Blazers, Butler dropped 27 points and grabbed 12 rebounds while going a perfect 8-for-8 from the free throw line.
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Getting to the free throw line has been a hallmark of Butler’s game for a while now, but he’s on another level so far this year. Including Tuesday night’s game, Butler has taken 101 free throws this season. Only four players have taken more, and only one of those four (Damian Lillard, ironically) is shooting a better percentage than Butler.
To add fuel to fire, Butler looks even more rejuvenated from the knee injury that helped to derail the Bulls’ season last year, according to Nate Duncan and Stephen Noh of The Athletic.
.@NateDuncanNBA pointed out on Dunc'd on that the athleticism Butler lost after his knee injury last yr looks to have returned. I'd agree. pic.twitter.com/K9pfZJYQGb
— Steph Noh (@StephNoh) November 16, 2016
If Jimmy can keep up this kind of production without sacrificing his trademark tenacity on the defensive end, the Bulls could reasonably set their season expectations higher than we thought.