Butler eclipses Jordan’s mark during victory over Raptors

He also made sure not to compare him to Michael Jordan, whose previous franchise record of 39 points in a half is now second place to his Sunday feat.

The Raptors held a 60-48 halftime lead, and it seemed like a normal enough game, until Jimmy Butler entered a higher plane of existence and destroyed Toronto by himself in the second half.

Butler shot 14 of 19 in the final two quarters after a 1-for-4 start in the Bulls’ fourth straight victory.

Butler’s own teammates, who see him on a daily basis, were having trouble putting into words exactly what they saw from their teammate.

“I’m just happy we won, to tell the truth”, Butler said. “You don’t see individual efforts like this too often”, Scottie Pippen (Hamburg, Central Arkansas) said in a tweet.

Butler poured in 21 points in the third, including a pullup jumper with 32 seconds left in the frame that pulled the Bulls to within six points with one quarter left.

While Butler knows Carroll didn’t punch him on goal, the four-year veteran was a little mad that he ruined his swagger.

Rose is averaging 14.4 points per game this season, and considering he has apparently been dealing with this hamstring thing for a while and also worrying about his fresh orbital fracture from the preseason, the PG is playing quite well, though shooting poorly.

Whiteside’s 25 points and 19 rebounds saw the Heat return to winning ways in Miami.

WASHINGTON – John Wall scored 24 points with 13 assists, Otto Porter had 20 points and 11 rebounds, and the Washington Wizards extended their dominance over the Orlando Magic.

Chris Bosh scored 16 points and Goran Dragic had 15 points and 7 assists to help the Heat snap a two-game slide. The Knicks missed their first 10 shots and needed nearly 4 minutes to score their first points of 2016, a layup for rookie Kristaps Porzingis with 8:05 left in the opening quarter.

The Raptors must be wondering what they have to do to beat the Bulls.

The Bulls had blown a 17-point lead but found an extra gear late on as they won for the fourth time in five games. The Wizards shot just 34.1 percent in producing a season-low 75 points. Rose will undergo an MRI on Monday on the knee, the same knee he has previously had two surgeries on….

Jack will have surgery on a date that has not been determined.

Denver Nuggets forward Kenneth Faried said Sunday he was feeling “much better” was released from hospital following an injury scare the day before in a game against Golden State in Oakland.

It was a third straight win for the Lakers, who were without Kobe Bryant for a second game in a row as he nurses a sore shoulder. He was injured in Saturday’s 100-97 victory at Boston.