Bulls' starting five back together with Dunleavy
Back on the floor Tuesday night after a 19-game absence with a right-ankle injury, Mike Dunleavy had one complaint after the Bulls' 104-86 victory over Sacramento.
It was the fouls. Just four minutes into the contest, Dunleavy thought he had a clean block on Kings guard Ben McLemore but was called for his second foul and went to the bench a few minutes later.
"I felt great. Aside from the whistle I got. I got some tough calls," Dunleavy said with a smile. "They might have forgotten that I've been in the league 13 years, after being out all those games.
"You know, it's the way the cookie crumbles sometimes. I was pleased with the way I felt with the ankle and all that. Hopefully I'll just keep building on it."
Nearby, Joakim Noah listened closely to Dunleavy's complaints and looked like he was about to let loose with some false sympathy. Noah played just 17 minutes against the Kings because he collected 5 fouls.
But it all worked out well for the Bulls (33-20), who stretched their winning streak to three games. Tony Snell scored a career-high 24 points, Pau Gasol stretched his double-double streak to 13 games by piling up 26 points and 16 rebounds, and Derrick Rose added 23 points.
The worst news of the night was Jimmy Butler skipping the second half with a right-shoulder strain. He suffered the injury Sunday against Orlando and appeared to aggravate it in the second quarter Tuesday after getting hit with a hard screen by Reggie Evans.
Coach Tom Thibodeau said Butler may get an MRI exam on Wednesday.
Asked in the locker room for an update, Butler kept walking and said, "My shoulder hurts. There's your update."
The bigger picture here is the Bulls' projected starting lineup of Rose, Butler, Dunleavy, Noah and Gasol was together for the first time since Jan. 1. When that group starts, the Bulls are 13-3.
What became clear while Dunleavy sat out is the Bulls really benefit from having a respected 3-point shooter on the floor. When Snell or Nikola Mirotic played well in Dunleavy's absence, the Bulls functioned better on offense. When there was no 3-point threat, they looked terrible at times, going 9-10 while Dunleavy was hurt.
"Just seeing Mike on the floor is huge," Rose said. "He's a guy, he creates space. You can't leave him. You've always got to keep an eye on him. When you have a player like him, he knows the game. He never gets in the way of any play, plays his heart out on defense."
Dunleavy ended up scoring 5 points in 24 minutes, but the offense was efficient. The Bulls shot 52.5 percent from the field against the Kings. Dunleavy said he felt well enough to play over the weekend, but one thing was lacking.
"The problem is over the weekend I hadn't had any practice time," he said. "So I had to get through doing some stuff to make sure I could do it as opposed to testing it out on the court in the middle of a game."
Snell has seemed like a different player over the past week. He didn't play at all last week at Houston. Since then he scored 19 points at New Orleans and now a career-high 24.
"It's all a credit to my teammates," he said. "My teammates got me involved. Everybody was a threat tonight, so a credit to my teammates."
• Get the latest Bulls news via Twitter by following @McGrawDHBulls.