Chicago Bulls' Butler gets another player-of-week award
Jimmy Butler skipped Monday's shootaround because he was feeling sick, but the morning wasn't a total loss. He was named Eastern Conference player of the week by the NBA.
Butler averaged 38 points, 9.3 rebounds and 6.3 assists last week as the Chicago Bulls posted victories over Charlotte, Cleveland and Toronto. This was the second time this season Butler won player of the week and the third time in his career.
During his big week, Butler was most dangerous in the fourth quarter. Before Monday's contest, Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg talked about the hot streak.
"The biggest thing that Jimmy's done, he's not forcing the issue. He's taking what the defense gives him," Hoiberg said. "You look at the first couple quarters, he's doing a great job of getting other guys involved.
"When it comes to the fourth quarter and crunchtime, he's doing a good job of getting into the paint."
Butler has become one of the best in the league at drawing fouls. He went 42-for-46 from the free-throw line in the three games.
He also usually draws the toughest defensive assignment. He guarded LeBron James in Cleveland and took on Raptors point guard Kyle Lowry for most of the fourth quarter and overtime.
"It takes a lot of energy to do that and have the usage rate he has on the offensive end," Hoiberg said. "We're going to continue, obviously, to play through him."
Wade plans to rest:
Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg said Monday morning Dwyane Wade will not play in Tuesday's game at Washington, but plans always are subject to change.
Wade and Hoiberg got together last week and talked about the January schedule, which includes four sets of back-to-back games.
"We've had conversations about this month," Hoiberg said. "We have an initial plan laid out. It could change. A couple of these back-to-backs are later in the month.
"I think one of them is an early game and then a late game, but, yeah, we do have a plan in place."
Wade left Monday's game in the first quarter after getting accidentally knocked to the floor by teammate Nikola Mirotic.
Wade stayed on the ground for a couple of minutes and walked to the locker room holding the back of his neck, but he returned to the floor for the start of the second quarter.
Valentine almost ready:
Rookie Denzel Valentine missed his third game with a left-ankle sprain, but he thinks he will be back as soon as Tuesday in Washington. He suffered the same injury in preseason and was out nearly four weeks.
After Monday's shootaround, Valentine talked about his season, which has featured very little playing time. Before getting hurt against Charlotte last Monday, Valentine set his season high of 9 points by hitting 3 straight 3-pointers.
"I'm definitely learning a lot," he said. "That's the good thing about sitting behind two all-stars (Dwyane Wade and Jimmy Butler). You get to see how they handle things and come to play every night, and I'm glad I'm able to learn from them two.
"They pretty much attack every day as if it's a new day. If they have a good game they're back in the gym the next day, getting treatments or working on their game as if they didn't have a good game. Just keep going every day and try and get better."