Chicago Bulls vs. Golden State Warriors: 5 takeaways
Welcome back, Jimmy Butler
Before Thursday’s game against the Warriors, I wrote a piece on how Jimmy Butler had been a recent funk of some sorts and hadn’t looked like the dominant player we saw earlier in the year when he was dropping 40 and 50 points on a few teams.
I’m not saying he heard me by any means, but he might have.
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In his usual heavy workload of 35 minutes while guarding some of the top talent the NBA has to offer, Butler scored 22 points on 6-of-14 shooting, but the best part was that he attempted and made 10 free throws. That’s when Butler is at his best: attacking the rim and getting to the line. The Bulls have been missing that in recent games and when he’s contributing with his best offensive weapon, it makes the Bulls a better team.
Plus, he was the best player on the floor Thursday night. He had four steals on the night — two in the early part of the 32-point third quarter (more on that in a minute) — and contributed in the poor shooting from Curry and Thompson. (So did the United Center rims. They did most of the heavy lifting.)
The Bulls needed their best player and after a sluggish start, Butler found that rhythm he had been searching for in the previous few games and it helped put the Bulls over the top.