Butler sparks Bulls' win over Pelicans

[April 12, 2016]  By Peter Finney Jr., The Sports Xchange
 
 NEW ORLEANS -- For a team viewing the upcoming NBA playoffs from the outside looking in, these are the dog days of spring, and no one knows that better than Chicago Bulls guard Jimmy Butler, who has played the last month while battling a sore knee.

But when the Bulls needed him the most Monday night in what amounted to a meaningless game, Butler delivered, scoring 12 of his team-high 23 points in six minutes of the fourth quarter to spark Chicago to a 121-116 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans at the Smoothie King Center.

Playing point guard for only the third time this season, Butler hit the go-ahead 3-pointer from the right wing with 2:40 left, leading the Bulls back from a 96-93 deficit. Butler, who had 11 assists, also hit a driving left-hand layup that gave Chicago a lead with 3:30 to play.

Butler had nine consecutive points in a 90-second stretch and finished 8 of 11 from the floor with 11 assists. The victory gave the Bulls a 41-40 record with one home game left Wednesday against the 76ers.

"I was just trying to help my team win, be aggressive but at the same time making the right plays," Butler said. "That's why coach puts the ball in my hands because he trusts me to take and make the right shots. If I can't, somebody else needs the basketball."

Butler had both of his knees wrapped in ice after the game, but he said he never thought about sitting out game No. 81.

"Nobody can make me do anything, I'm a grown man, but, no, I wanted to play," Butler said. "(Coach Fred Hoiberg) came to me and he knew how to talk to me. He said, 'You might have to run point guard.' I said, 'I'm playing now.'

"I know what I'm capable of. It's like I tell coach, 'I may not be the best ball-handler or the best shooter but I can pass the ball to the open man. I can get where I need to on the floor. I think coach really trusts me. I think part of my game is knowing every position and every play we need to call."

Hoiberg said he tried to manage Butler's playing time -- limiting him to 29 minutes -- but he was impressed with the heart he displayed.

"Jimmy wanting to be out there says a lot," Hoiberg said. "It shows he wants to be the leader of this club. He was giving our guys the ball and competing all the way to the finish line. For us to have a guy like that and do what he did tonight was great."

The Bulls (41-40) scored 11 consecutive points -- six by Doug McDermott -- to take a 104-96 lead. After the Pelicans tied the game at 108 on a scoop shot in the lane by guard Tim Frazier, Butler scored the Bulls' next nine points to secure the victory. Nikola Mirotic added 20 points for Chicago.

New Orleans (30-51) was led by James Ennis with a career-high 29 points and by Toney Douglas with 21. Frazier, a backup point guard, had 20 points and 11 assists. The Pelicans were down to seven players early in the game when Toney Douglas hit the floor hard on a layup attempt.

"We've got a group of guys that compete hard," said New Orleans coach Alvin Gentry. "Forty-eight minutes. They give you everything they've got. We just ran out of gas. That's basically it."

Ennis said he's simply having fun being in the NBA the last month after spending the season in the D League.

"I'm around a bunch of good people, and I'm competing," Ennis said. "I'm pretty confident. I play hard, and when you play hard, anything can happen."

The Pelicans close the season Wednesday at Minnesota.

NOTES: In the wake of the shooting death of former New Orleans Saints DE Will Smith after a traffic accident on Saturday night, Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry decried gun violence but said the city should not be branded as lawless. "It was a senseless thing; it was ridiculous," Gentry said. "The whole gun thing makes me sick to my stomach." ... Pelicans PG Jrue Holiday had surgery to repair a fractured right orbital socket. He is expected to be healthy in 6 to 8 weeks. ... Chicago coach Fred Hoiberg said rookie F/C Cristiano Felicio has shown great potential and could be a starter next year. "(He) fits with the way we want to play, with him running to the rim and rolling hard with his ball screen, opening up the floor for the shooter, setting such great screens," Hoiberg said.

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