It’s been a week since my last post and a lot has happened. The Bulls’ long western conference is finally over and they have a long stretch of home games, which is what they need. Their road trip didn’t go over too well, though. They were 2-4 on the road during their extended trip. Without Butler (heel contusion) and Wade (wrist injury and more recently a stomach virus) it was very hard for the Bulls to even win games. They were also without Mirotic and Zipser, which didn’t hurt them as much, but it helps to have more guys in their rotation. Some young players stepped up into their roles, while others had underwhelming performances. Doug McDermott, Michael Carter-Williams, and Bobby Portis have stepped up in the absence of some of their key players. However, each of these guys only had one or two stellar games in the last week, which isn’t great since consistency is what the Bulls desperately need.
The Bulls lost to many western conference teams on the road, but since they’ve returned to the United Center they’ve built up a mini winning streak. They beat the Toronto Raptors (who are a top eastern conference team), but they have beaten them every time they’ve played them for eleven games straight. It’s not clear whether it’s the matchups or the offense and defense against each other, but no matter what they always beat Toronto.
The game I really want to talk about is their game against the Celtics on February 16. The Bulls won 104-103. Butler returned so they were able to hang with for most of the game, even with Wade out. Many young players picked up the slack last night, especially Portis with 19 points. The most exciting part of the game was the last minute. The game was tied with about one minute left and after trading possessions, Butler had the last shot. Of course, he is their closer. He waited until the last second to toss up a shot, a step-back jumper (his signature shot now) and missed. I thought the game was over since the clock was at zero and the Celtics won. That was until a foul was called on Marcus Smart of the Celtics on Butler’s shot. Butler shot two free throws and hit both, leading the Bulls to a great win.
Jimmy Butler has proved once again why he will never be traded and why he is the reason the Bulls are in a playoff spot right now. Once again, there are more Butler trade rumors, but those are always circulating. I think that there is no way the Bulls will trade him since he is the new face of the franchise. The Bulls need to build their roster around him and recruit players that will play well with him. There are currently trade rumors regarding Jahil Okafor of the 76ers, but this trade most likely won’t happen, so I won’t go into it.
This excellent close to the game also proves that Butler is deserving of his starting spot in the 2017 All Star Game. The game is Sunday night (February 19) in New Orleans this year. I’m glad he’s being rewarded for pushing himself as hard as he can every night and for his stellar play and development. I’ll be back next week to give my analysis on the All Star Game, especially Butler’s performance. This game doesn’t count for anyone’s season record, but it’s always a fun, entertaining game to watch. The Bulls have the week off for the All Star break, which they desperately need. Hopefully they’ll come back strong from the break. I’ll give more updates next week.
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