Butler will play through sore heel

Bulls leading scorer Jimmy Butler will continue to play with a sore heel, coach Fred Hoiberg said Tuesday.

"The big thing is he's comfortable with it," Hoiberg said after practice at the Advocate Center. "He has a bruise on his heel. … But there's nothing structurally wrong with it. Jimmy is a warrior. He's going to play through the pain."

After Monday's win over San Antonio, Butler said the heel began to bother him during the Golden State game on Nov. 20. He put up some shots Tuesday, but otherwise skipped a light practice. The Bulls are back in action Wednesday, hosting Denver.

"It was a pretty light day." Hoiberg said. "We did a lot getting through the offense. We got the guys in the weight room. We went through a game plan for what we're going to be up against tomorrow."

Kirk Hinrich (hip pointer) and Aaron Brooks (hamstring) participated in practice, but Hoiberg is not sure if either will be available to play against the Nuggets.

Bulls aim for consistency:

The Bulls' victory over a 14-3 San Antonio squad came just three days after a lackluster loss at Indiana. Coach Fred Hoiberg said building consistency is now a priority.

"We've gotten back to the basics in a lot of things defensively, which I think really helped our group," he said. "And now we're getting back to the basics a lot offensively as well. We really talked a lot about pace and spacing, making the extra pass, getting the ball to swing side to side, just a lot of those little things that you have to do to be effective on the offensive side of the ball.

"We didn't score a field goal in the last (6:30) of the Spurs game, but I think we got some good looks. We got the ball to the rim a few times, but we didn't finish. If we continue to move the ball the way we did last night, against arguably the best defensive team in the league, we're going to get better and we're going to grow."

Popovich does stand-up:

San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich has made a running joke of giving bad in-game interviews to television sideline reporters.

When talking to reporters before a game, though, Popovich is one of the best in the NBA. Here are some highlights from Monday:

• Asked if his team's hot start means the Spurs don't miss current Bulls assistant Jim Boylen: "They'd be 14-3 without me. They might only have one loss if I wasn't there."

• On his favorite Kobe Bryant memories: "My Kobe memories are when he beat us. They're not very fun and that's the truth."

• On his respect for winless Philadelphia 76ers coach Brett Brown: "An amazing coach and a ridiculously amazing human being to put up with what he puts up with. … I would have lasted about a month. I would have been in a fight, would have killed somebody, the owners would have got rid of me. I'm not man enough to do what he's doing."