He ain’t Michael Jordan, but for one half of basketball Bulls’ sharp-shooter Jimmy Butler did something the game’s greatest player never could.
Butler tossed in a team record 40 points in the second half of Sunday’s win at Toronto, leading Chicago to its fourth straight win.
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LOOK AHEAD
Celtics coach Brad Stevens shook up his starting lineup Monday in Brooklyn and the changes paid immediate dividends. Evan Turner started in place of the injured Avery Bradley and Kelly Olynyk was inserted at center for the slumping Jared Sullinger. Boston’s offense promptly opened with and electric start, scoring 37 points in the first quarter. Steven’s moves resulted in much more than just improved numbers on the scoreboard. They also seemed to breathe new life into the Celtics. From top to bottom, they looked engaged for the first time in more than a week. Home losses to the Lakers and Nets, two of the worst teams in the NBA, prompted the moves. How long Stevens goes with the new starting lineup remains to be seen as the Celtics have a more challenging schedule coming up. They visit Chicago on Thursday in the second game of a back-to-back set after hosting Detroit. Boston has been solid in the second game of back-to-backs going 5-2 SU and 4-2 ATS. The Celtics are a good wager on the road, covering their last three while going 11-5 ATS away from the Garden.
INJURIES
Bradley left Saturday’s game in obvious pain after suffering what the team called a left hip bruise. He sat out Monday’s win over the Nets and is out indefinitely. The Celtics also lost backup guard R.J. Hunter to a shoulder injury and he’s listed as questionable.
The Bulls will take a cautious approach with Derrick Rose and his sore knee. Rose missed three games with hamstring tightness and also complained of soreness in his right knee, the same one that underwent two surgeries in the past two years. An MRI revealed no structural damage to the knee and Rose feels he just overextended himself. He will likely have a restriction on minutes when he returns, which could be as soon as Thursday.
Joakim Noah is out of the Bulls lineup for another few weeks as he recovers from a tear in his left shoulder.
KEY MATCHUP
Bulls guard Jimmy Butler had a record-setting performance Sunday in a win over Toronto. Butler poured in 40 of his 42 points in the second half of Chicago’s 115-113 win, breaking Michael Jordan’s 1989 team record of 39 points in a half. Since Rose suffered his first knee injury in 2012, the Bulls have searched for a player willing to accept the responsibility of taking the tough shots late in regulation and overtime while also finding a way to get to the free throw line. It looks like Butler is now ready and willing to take on that role. Butler brought the Bulls from behind against Indiana last week, scoring his team’s last seven points to force overtime, then scoring the game-winner. On Sunday he rallied the Bulls from a 15-point deficit, hitting tough shot after tough shot against a defense designed to stop him. Butler is establishing himself as a top player in the league, and the cornerstone for the future as the roster continues to evolve in coach Fred Hoiberg’s system.
ODDS AND PREDICTION
One thing Hoiberg has stressed in his first season is depth. It also helps to have the horses. Hoiberg has routinely used a 10-man rotation and on several occasions has gone 11-deep on his bench. The use of players like Doug McDermott, Bobby Portis and E’Twaun Moore, gives the team flexibility and, of course, options. The Bulls lost Noah for an extended period with an injury and Rose is still hobbling around on a bum wheel. Pau Gasol and Kirk Hinrich aren’t getting any younger so the window is closing on this group. Hoiberg is determined to make his system work and the players are buying in, especially Butler, who will take over as the face of the franchise with Rose moving to a complementary piece. But the guys get it, they know what it takes to win and they understand their coach. The Bulls get a chance to avenge an ugly loss at Boston last month and they are in a good place right now. A place that has them beating the Celtics.
Chicago 104, Boston 98
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Don’t miss out on getting paid because you couldn’t bet, click here and deposit at BookMaker now! The contest between the Boston Celtics and Chicago Bulls will take place Thursday, January 7, 2016, at 8 p.m. ET at the United Center. The contest will be broadcast nationally on TNT.
