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The Chicago Bulls defeated the Brooklyn Nets 101-99 thanks to Jimmy Butler’s buzzer-beating step back jumper.
It looked like it was going to happen again. The Bulls were on the verge of yet again falling victim to one of the bottom-feeders of the NBA. Only, Jimmy Butler wasn’t letting it happen this time.
Butler was outstanding tonight dropping 40 points while going 11-of-11 from the line and grabbing 11 rebounds. Not only that but 27 of his 40 points came in the second half alone.
The Nets, however, got a terrific night form their best player. Brook Lopez went bananas from downtown sinking five of his six attempts from deep. Lopez ended up scoring 33 points and was the reason the Nets nearly defeated the Bulls.
Nonetheless, a win is a win, right? Although, it is troubling with how much trouble the Bulls have against mediocre teams. If Jimmy Butler doesn’t dominate then Chicago is looking at another loss to a team they shouldn’t be losing to.
At the end of the day, this team is nearly impossible to figure out. They are back to .500 and it seems clear at this point that whatever promise that was surrounding this team early on in the season has vanished.
To this point, the Bulls don’t look like a very good team. But they should be good enough to where they aren’t routinely in a dog fight against the league’s worst teams.
Jimmy bails out the Bulls
After the game Jimmy Butler spoke with the media and said, “I think we desperately need every win, not just this one, but the way the game was going, I guess I had the hot hand, and coach and players said, ‘Hey, make something happen.’ At the end, I did just that.”
Fred Hoiberg instructed his team to “Get the hell out of the way and let him go to work.” And that is just what the Bulls did.
Jimmy Butler took a couple dribbles toward Bojan Bogdonavic and hit him with a nasty step back jumper as time expired.
Butler yet again carried his team to victory, which began to make me wonder: Where would the Bulls be without Jimmy Butler?
For crying out loud this team already has trouble beating the likes of the Nets, Mavericks, Wizards, and Timberwolves with their star player. Without Jimmy Butler the Bulls would probably be right there with all of the other teams “competing” for the number one pick in the upcoming draft.
Sure, the Bulls have been flirting with a .500-record for the past month, but Jimmy Butler doesn’t have much help. He should have been starting the All-Star game last year, and perhaps this year justice will be served come All-Star weekend.
Mar 17, 2016; Chicago, IL, USA; Brooklyn Nets center Brook Lopez (11) is defended by Chicago Bulls forward Taj Gibson (22) during the second half at the United Center. Chicago won 118-102. Mandatory Credit: Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports
Brook Lopez’s big night
Brook and Robin Lopez‘s parents must given the short end of the stick to Brook this Christmas. He played out of his mind tonight. Almost as if he was trying to get back at his brother.
Right from the start he was heaving 3-pointers.
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Huh? 3-point shooting is not was typically comes to someone’s mind when they think of Brook Lopez. But not only was Brook launching from deep, he was nailing those shots in a routine fashion. He finished the game 5-for-6 from beyond the arc and nearly propelled the Nets toward victory.
It was the Bulls who led late in the game with 28 seconds left. Brook Lopez took his brother Robin straight to the rack and put his twin brother on a poster. It looked like his monstrous slam was going to force overtime. However, as the story goes Jimmy Butler stuck the dagger in Brooklyn as the buzzer.
Nonetheless, it is safe to say that Brook dominated the sibling matchup on this night.
Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports
Beyond the arc
Besides Brook Lopez’s big night, the other main reason the Nets were in the game was because they were able to hit 3s. There was a substantial discrepancy between the amount of 3-pointers each team sank in this game.
The Bulls nailed only three shots from beyond the arc as opposed to 13 3-pointers for the Nets.
Chicago is dead last in the NBA in 3FG% with an abysmal 3FG% of 30 percent coming into tonight. One of the main reasons the Bulls allow so many of these teams to play them so close is because they almost always lose the battle from beyond the arc. Hitting 3s allows for a larger margin of error and can make up for some of the silly mistakes any NBA team is runs into.
However, there is so much more pressure on the Bulls to not mistakes with their inability to make up for those mistakes with a shot from deep.
All of the talk about the lack of shooting probably wore fans out during the offseason, but this is a real issue for this team. Aside from the first ten or so games, the Bulls have been throwing up bricks from beyond the arc.
No, Dwyane Wade is not all of the sudden going to become a knock down shooter from deep. And yes, Rajon Rondo’s 3FG% with the Kings last year was an outlier.
This team can’t shoot and it’s going to be the reason they lose to the league’s bottom-feeders.
