Butler gets the call, Bulls beat Celtics
Sometimes, it's nice to have an all-star on your side.
Boston has a good one in Isaiah Thomas, but the Bulls had the ball at the end of Thursday's game, trailing by 1. Jimmy Butler waited, let the clock run down, then tried a spinning step-back that bounced off the front rim as time expired.
Boston wins? Not so fast.
Butler pointed to his elbow and the referee agreed: Two-shot foul on Celtics guard Marcus Smart. Butler drained both free throws with 0.9 seconds on the clock and the Bulls won 104-103 at the United Center.
The Celtics were incredulous about the call. Replays didn't show any major contact, but Smart probably tapped Butler on his shooting elbow as he released the shot. Boston's final chance ended with Al Horford missing a 19-footer.
"A foul's a foul. He hit my elbow," Butler said in the locker room. "I don't care what nobody says, I think I'm making it if he doesn't alter it like that."
Inside Boston's locker room, Smart claimed the referee didn't make the call until Butler yelled, "No foul?"
"We won this game," Celtics star Isaiah Thomas said, according to The Boston Globe. "We had it won. A great defensive play by Marcus Smart and the ref made a horrible call."
Celtics coach Brad Stevens didn't spend any time complaining about the foul call after the game.
"I felt we played a pretty good game, all things considered," he said. "I was proud of the way we competed. I'm not going to let that derail that."
The Bulls head into the all-star break with a 28-29 record, still good enough for seventh place in the East. Butler will fly to New Orleans and start for the East All-Stars on Sunday.
"We can't be satisfied," Butler said. "We have to start wining these games, get over .500 and keep looking forward."
Butler led the Bulls with 29 points and seemed to find his shooting touch as the game progressed. He missed four of the previous six games with a bruised right heel and shot poorly on Tuesday against Toronto.
Bobby Portis added a season-high 19 points, while Robin Lopez scored 15. Thomas led Boston (37-20) with 29 points.
A couple of impressive streaks were on the line in this one. Boston had won 11 of its previous 12 contests. The Bulls, meanwhile, had won 16 consecutive regular-season home games televised by TNT. Their last TNT home loss was on Feb. 21, 2013, against Miami. It's a very strange streak, maybe further proof of the Bulls' tendency to match their level of competition.
This season, the Bulls are 13-13 against teams that had winning records as of Thursday and 15-16 against teams with losing records.
Dwyane Wade missed his third straight game with a sore right wrist. He was also struck by illness Thursday. Before the game, Hoiberg said Nikola Mirotic was available after missing the previous two games with back spasms. He did not play, however.
Thomas set a franchise record with his 41st consecutive 20-point game, breaking a tie with John Havlicek.
Thomas finished a lay-in past Butler, then drew a foul and knocked down the free throws to put the Celtics ahead 101-98 with 1:56 left.
The teams exchanged free throws before Butler swatted a Thomas reverse lay in attempt with just over a minute remaining. The Bulls grabbed 2 offensive rebounds, but on their third chance, Butler lost the ball to Marcus Smart. The Bulls got the stop they needed, with Thomas missing a long jumper. Michael Carter-Williams pulled in the defensive rebound to give the Bulls possession with 8.4 seconds left.
The Bulls dominated the boards in this one, finishing with a 51-31 edge on the glass and 22-4 in second-chance points.
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Bulls streaking on TNT
It's an odd phenomenon, but heading into Thursday's game against Boston, the Bulls had won 16 consecutive regular-season home games that were nationally televised by TNT. Here's the full list:
2/16/17: Boston
12/8/16: San Antonio 95-91
10/27/16: Boston 105-99
12/10/15: LA Clippers 83-80
11/5/15: Oklahoma City 104-98
10/27/15: Cleveland 97-95
3/5/15: Oklahoma City 108-105
2/12/15: Cleveland 113-98
1/22/15: San Antonio 104-81
12/25/14: LA Lakers 113-93
12/18/14: New York 103-97
3/13/14: Houston 111-87
2/13/14: Brooklyn 92-76
12/5/13: Miami 107-87
10/31/13: New York 82-81
4/11/13: New York 118-111 OT
2/28/13: Philadelphia 93-82
2/21/13: Miami L 67-86