Chicago Bulls' Mirotic having fun and watching his shots fall
MILWAUKEE - Nikola Mirotic has experienced his share of ups and downs during three years with the Chicago Bulls.
He never has had a high point quite like this. After scoring 28 points against the Bucks on Sunday, Mirotic has hit 14 of 21 shots from 3-point range over the last three games.
"I'm working on that, trying to be consistent," he said. "Just trying to play my game. Once I hit the floor, enjoying the basketball. That's the key - enjoy the basketball. Sometimes when you don't think and you play your game, everything's going."
Twice this week, Mirotic has been on fire. He hit 11 of 14 shots against the Bucks and was even better, 12 of 15, on Wednesday against Detroit.
"It's big for the team, but even bigger for him," Jimmy Butler said. "When you see the ball going in the basket at a rate like that, it makes you want to take more and more shots. We're happy for him. We like that."
Bulls push for playoffs:
The Bulls still are in ninth place in the East after Sunday's action, but they're still hanging close in the playoff race. They're just 2½ games behind Milwaukee and Atlanta, which are tied for fifth place.
After Sunday's victory, Jimmy Butler was asked if his younger teammates feel it's important to make the playoffs.
"Yeah. I don't think anybody plays this game to lose," he said. "Who would waste their time having a long summer, grueling off-season, come into preseason and practice two times a day, have back-to-backs, four in five nights, just to say, 'Oh, shoot, I want to go home?'
"I don't think anybody in here thinks like that. We all want to win; we all want to see ourself in the playoffs."
The Bulls (35-39) have eight games remaining but don't play again until hosting Cleveland on Thursday.
Snell plays major role:
The Bulls got another look at former teammate Tony Snell, who was traded to the Bucks in October for Michael Carter-Williams.
Snell is playing heavy minutes for Milwaukee. He finished with 7 points Sunday and was asked to guard Jimmy Butler most of the game.
"First of all, I'm really happy for Tony. He was a pleasure to coach," Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg said before the game. "He's a wonderful kid. He does what's asked of him. It's great to see him out there knocking down shots.
"He did that for us, especially early last season. It's great to see him getting this opportunity and taking advantage of that. He's a guy I always root for just because of the type of kid that he is."