Bulls earn overtime win over Pacers

Aaron Brooks buoyed the Bulls to a 14-point lead with 29 off the bench, including a couple crucial baskets in overtime to aid Butler offensively.

With the starters scuffling and getting outscored badly by the reserves through three quarters, Butler led an improbable rally in the final minute of regulation and capped his 28-point performance with 15 points in the fourth quarter and overtime.

Jimmy Butler (center) and Pau Gasol (right) teamed for the winning shot, to the delight of Taj Gibson.

For the longest time, Bulls fans have tried throwing new line-up ideas out there, while singling out Nikola Mirotic and Tony Snell, and so on, and while Derrick certainly has taken his fair of critique, it’s been nearly expected of him to shoot poorly and generally play poorly, that somehow we’ve forgotten that the Bulls’ point guard position has failed to produce quality production. The last two games represented the first time he scored 20 points in back-to-back games all season, and one of those games included an efficient 12-of-20 shooting performance. This will only be the third game he’s missed in the regular season, and there are now no indications that this injury is serious. Butler then hit two free throws and Chicago got the ball back after George Hill’s turnover. Kirk Hinrich started in his place, though he played just 12:34.

Ellis made a layup with 31.3 seconds left, but Butler tied it with 25 seconds to go. But it was Brooks who stole the spotlight as he had 18 points and hit all four of his three point attempts in the half.

The Pacers had their own injury issues. Even bringing in Portis couldn’t stop the bleeding (though he finished with 16 points and 7 boards in 26 minutes, a great game by the rookie), where now the Bulls themselves were giving up way too many offensive boards. He’ll be reevaluated Thursday. Butler tends to step up and shoulder more of the load on offense when Derrick Rose is injured, and this was indeed the case on Wednesday when Rose sat with a hamstring ailment. The Pacers only shot 37% for the half and were 2-8 from three.

“Just a basketball play”, Butler said.

Butler also further addressed his relationship with Hoiberg, whom he publicly criticized recently, setting off a mini-crisis that the coaching staff would’ve rather not had to deal with.

Key backup big man Jordan Hill missed Wednesday’s game in Chicago after undergoing dental work on a wisdom tooth problem that has been bothering him for weeks.

“The kid played with a lot of heart”, Vogel said. Hoiberg said little-used forward Cristiano Felicio will be assigned to the D-League.

Bulls host NY on Friday night. The Pacers forced 22 turnovers, leading to 27 points, but the number could’ve been higher if not for Indiana’s woeful 38% shooting night.