Butler pours more cold water on Bulls' comeback season
Leave it to Jimmy Butler to punctuate the Bulls' feel-good season with a reminder of what their ill-fated rebuild could have been.
Butler and the Miami Heat used a flurry of 3-pointers to roll past the Bulls 127-109 on Saturday at the United Center. This game only confirmed what the entire regular season has suggested: The Bulls are a few steps below the NBA's best teams.
"We have a long way to go to get to their level," Bulls coach Billy Donovan confirmed. "I think that's clear."
The Heat can put a full lineup of players on the floor who have been to the NBA Finals or at least the conference finals, in the case of former DeMar DeRozan teammate Kyle Lowry. The one exception is Hickory Hills native Max Strus, the former Bulls two-way player who got the start for Miami in his hometown.
The Bulls have tried to move on from the rebuilding era by turning the team over to Arturas Karnisovas. But as Saturday's game played out, it was impossible to forget how in the 2017 draft, the Bulls took Lauri Markkanen and Miami chose Bam Adebayo. Two years later, the Bulls took Coby White and Miami got Tyler Herro.
As if anyone needed a reminder, the Bulls selected well ahead of the Heat both years. The Bulls also decided they'd rather save the money than move forward with Butler as their franchise player.
Also of note, Milwaukee native Herro is a lock to win the Sixth Man Award, while Adebayo will be top three for Defensive Player of the Year.
The biggest piece of Miami dominance was the 3-point line, going 17-for-34, even with Duncan Robinson having a quiet night. Herro was 6-for-7 from behind the arc. Backup guard Gabe Vincent knocked down 3 and is now 7-for-11 in two games at the United Center this season. Strus, Lowry, Butler and Robinson made 2 each.
"I think the challenge is playing against their consistency," said Zach LaVine, who led the Bulls with 33 points. "Attacked our weak spots, attacked our rotations and it's pretty much hoping they miss at that point. We've got to start trying to take away something they're good at."
On the flip side, White's shooting slump continued. He missed all 9 shots he took Saturday and was 0-for-7 from 3-point range. As a team, the Bulls went 9-for-34 with LaVine hitting 5.
"Only I can dig myself out of it. For me, it's just continue to shoot," former North Carolina guard White said as he watched the Tar Heels finish off Duke in the Final Four. "It doesn't matter if I go 0-for-10, if I go 0-for-11. The bad thing would be if I stop shooting, if I stop taking open shots.
"I've put a lot of time and effort into this game. I believe in myself and I have confidence, regardless of what other people say. Honestly, tonight were some of the most clean looks I've gotten all year."
Donovan said after the game Alex Caruso's back injury kept his minutes down and has become a concern. Caruso had a steal early, but didn't score in 22 minutes of action.
"It's a problem," Donovan said. "It's nothing like long-term. He's dealing with some spasms. In the third, he came to me and asked to come out. He just couldn't go. I put him in a little bit later. He's hobbled. He's going to give it everything he has. I'm trying to manage it under 28 (minutes), if I can. He's managing his back right now and to be honest, he's just not right."
The Bulls' winless streak against the NBA's best teams continued, although now that Boston has a better record than Philadelphia, it's tough to say they haven't beaten any of them. The Bulls are now 2-19 against the top four teams in each conference, with wins over the Celtics and Dallas.
The Bulls (45-32) finished the night tied with Toronto for fifth place in the East. The Bulls hold the tiebreaker, but the Raptors will host Miami on the second night of a back-to-back and Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said he isn't sure how many regulars will suit up.
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