Butler's return gives Bulls some hope

Leave it to Pau Gasol to have the math figured out when it comes to the Bulls' playoff push.

"There are 21 games left to play. It's a quarter of the season," Gasol said after the Bulls snapped a four-game losing streak with a 108-100 win over Houston on Saturday. "It's a lot of games. But now our margin of error is gone. So we've just got to play with a little more consistency than we did tonight, with the same type of energy and competitiveness and go after every single one."

As badly as things have gone for the Bulls since their slump began on Jan. 9, the return of Jimmy Butler from a knee injury brings some hope to the situation. Playing for the first time since Feb. 5, Butler produced 24 points, 11 rebounds, 6 assists and also fouled out for the first time in his NBA career.

Houston guard James Harden scored 36 points, but according to ESPN Stats, just 6 of those points came while Butler was guarding him. The Bulls were a plus-28 while Butler was on the floor Saturday.

"Obviously, you see the impact Jimmy has because of his ability to make life difficult for the elite wing players in this league," coach Fred Hoiberg said. "He gives you that great physical presence out there and stays in front of guys and bodies up."

Derrick Rose, who had 17 points and 9 assists, also gushed about having Butler back.

"It's huge. Whenever he gets the ball, you've got to stick both of us," Rose said. "It's hard to pay attention to both of us when we're on the court and we get to catch the ball with a live dribble, so that helps the team out a lot."

When it comes to making the playoffs, the Bulls (31-30) aren't in bad shape. In fact, they'd be the No. 8 seed if the season ended Sunday morning. But the better teams in the East are starting to put it in gear. Fourth-place Miami was 10 games over .500 heading into Sunday's action and fifth-place Atlanta is seven games over.

"We understand the stakes," Taj Gibson said. "We understand where we want to be at. We want to make the playoffs. We're fighting for home court advantage. It's going to take all of us to put more into it, everyone do their job. (Saturday) was one win, but an important win because everyone in the East is junked up now from almost three to 12. Every game is important right now."

Added Rose, "Every game for us is a playoff game. If we want to make the playoffs, and guys do, we just have to come out and keep giving this effort.

"It all started with defense. When we stop people, we're dangerous with the shooters we have and the way me and Jimmy put pressure on the defense."

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