4. Speaking of Jimmy Butler, the Bulls need him more than ever
Don’t listen to me say how important Jimmy Butler.
Let a smart person tell you how important he is.
Jimmy Butler is getting buckets. To see how many buckets, watch the latest BIG Number with @tomhaberstroh - Episode 8.9 pic.twitter.com/pm3zv8s1xL
— Jade H. (@Jade_Hoye) January 12, 2017
When Butler’s importance is ranked up there with the likes of Westbrook, James and Harden, that tells you all you need to know about his impact with this Bulls roster.
Nights like Thursday night show the importance of Butler’s role on this team.
An astute press room colleague just noted: "Jimmy Butler picked up some MVP votes tonight."
— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) January 13, 2017
The Bulls were terrible offensively basically from start-to-finish against the Knicks. When you score 38 points in a half of an NBA game, that’s not good at all. No NBA team should score just 14 points in a quarter. Especially against a team that had lost nine of their last 10 games coming in.
The Bulls needed Butler on Monday, Tuesday and tonight this week. He and Mirotic, and Denzel Valentine (flu) for that matter, could all be back for the meeting with the New Orleans Pelicans on Saturday, but nothing’s set in stone just yet for those two.