Jimmy’s Big Half
Butler was relatively quiet in the first half, scoring eight points. After the Bulls came out sluggish at the start of the third quarter falling behind after leading for the majority of the game, Butler took control.
If not for Butler the Hawks would have ran away with the game before the final quarter. His 18 point third quarter kept the Bulls around. Butler was feeling it from the mid-range while getting to the line. A classic Butler performance.
Jimmy was the driving force that led the Bulls to victory in the final three minutes of the game.
Butler scored the Bulls last 9 points spanning the final 3 minutes.
— Jeff Mangurten (@JeffGurt) April 1, 2017
He took over. It was a duel between him and Schroeder and Jimmy came out on top. Jimmy scored in a variety of ways that involved grace and strength.
Jimmy Butler, folks pic.twitter.com/fTdtHsq4IK
— Steph Noh (@StephNoh) April 1, 2017
Here you see Jimmy shimmy his way into the paint and manage to finish over Dwight Howard while absorbing contact, clutch play from a clutch player.
In the final seconds, Butler settled for a bad jump shot to take the lead and missed, though he drew a foul. There wasn’t a ton of contact but nonetheless, Jimmy knew the situation and made the most of it. He would sink two free throws from the line to seal a win.
Butler scored 25 in the second half to finish with 33 points. The Bulls looked very solid for periods of time in this game, and that was enough for Butler to wrap things up in the end. Chicago now sits in the seventh seed with six games remaining.