Butler channels his NFL side in Bulls victory

Jimmy Butler brought a conversation-starter to his postgame interview session on Sunday at the United Center - his No. 88 orange Denver Broncos jersey, a tribute to wide receiver Demaryius Thomas.

So it seemed natural to ask, if the Broncos called tomorrow, would you ask to play offense or defense? Butler was the Bulls' leading scorer last season, but is also a two-time all-defensive team honoree.

"I'm a two sides of the ball type of guy. I'd play wideout with Demaryius," Butler said after the Bulls' 92-87 victory over the Orlando Magic. "Then I can't be a middle linebacker. I want to play defensive end. I don't want to guard anybody too much, I just want to rush the quarterback."

Compared to playing 48 minutes in an NBA playoff game, which Butler has done several times, how hard could it be to play both ways in the NFL?

Probably next to impossible, especially for someone who never played organized football. Butler passed on the sport, even though his unofficial adopted brother, Jordan Leslie, played wide receiver at BYU and went to training camp with the Minnesota Vikings this summer.

"I love the game of football. It's fun," Butler said. "A lot of my really good friends play football. I just talk trash, thinking that I can do what they do, just like they think they can do what I do.

"I'm inside (the gym) in the air conditioning where I belong. It's too hot outside, maybe too cold here. I'll stick to hooping."

The Bulls (3-1) needed a couple of athletic defensive plays from Butler to secure Sunday's victory. They were coasting with an 83-68 advantage with seven minutes remaining, then watched Orlando score 14 straight points.

After a runner by Magic guard Shabazz Napier made it 83-82 with 3:36 left, the Bulls finally ended their drought with a free throw from Nikola Mirotic. Then Pau Gasol knocked down a foul line jumper off a pass from Derrick Rose to make it 86-82.

That's when Butler made the defensive play of the game. Off a Mirotic 3-point miss, the Magic was looking to push the ball for an easy basket. But Butler, standing near the 3-point line, skied to deflect Aaron Gordon's lob pass. Rose grabbed the deflection for a turnover.

Asked to describe the play, Butler went all in on the Sunday Night Football theme.

"It's me being a Denver Bronco cornerback," Butler joked. "I backpedaled, I saw Aaron Rodgers try to throw the ball over the top. I was (Denver cornerback) Chris Harris on that play, was just there to smack it to Derrick, who's (linebacker) Von Miller."

Eventually, Mirotic hit 2 free throws to make it 88-82 with 1:29 left and the Bulls hung on, despite hitting just 2 of 16 shots from the field during the final nine minutes.

Until that point, the Bulls were running their new motion offense with confidence, sharing their way to balanced scoring. Nine players scored between 6 and 16 points, led by Gasol and Mirotic with 16 each. Butler finished with 14 points and Doug McDermott scored 12.

"I thought tonight, for a good portion of that game, (the offense) was as good as it's been all year, and then it stopped," Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg said. "So you've got to keep doing the things that get you successful and get you a lead and then build on that. When you get them down 15 in the fourth quarter, you've got to build that thing up to 20. You've got to continue the pace, continue to put pressure on the defense and we didn't do a very good job of that tonight."

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