Jimmy Butler Loses His Mind, Scores 40 Points In One Half

It’s not easy to break any kind of Chicago Bulls scoring record, not with Michael Jordan scoring nearly 30,000 points over 13 seasons in Chicago.

Jimmy Butler scored all but two of his 42 points in the second half Sunday to lift the Chicago Bulls over the Toronto Raptors 115-113. Butler also recorded a steal for the 39th straight game.

To summarize, Butler had 21 points in the third quarter, 19 points in the fourth and 40 in the second half.

“I was mad”, Butler said, about the first-half knock to the lip that required one stitch and left Air Canada Centre staff cleaning the blood on the floor during a timeout. “I don’t want to be compared to him because then people are going to think I’ve got to do what he did”.

“I’m just trying to get my All-Star ratings up”, said Whiteside, who was 12 of 16 from the field.

“It was an incredible performance … scoring 40 in a half isn’t something you see every day”, said his Bulls teammate, Pau Gasol.

The Raptors appeared in control late holding a 105-100 lead with 2:57 to go in the game, but Butler was just unstoppable, making a three-pointer to cut it down to two points.

Orlando Guard Victor Oladipo scored 20 points for the Magic, who had won six of their past eight games. Brooks would get into foul trouble and E’Twuan Moore came in with fast paced play to help set the pace for Chicago. The Raptors haven’t defeated the Bulls since December 31, 2013.

Luis Scola had 22 points for Toronto, as did Lowry on a tough 8-for-22 shooting night.

It will either be a good or bad omen today when Rose decides whether or not to play against Toronto, and how severe this injury is will likely determine how far the Bulls can go this season. The Wizards shot just 34.1 percent in producing a season-low 75 points.

Lowry missed a running layup and Toronto forward DeMarre Carroll was called for a foul that sent Gasol to the free throw line.

DeMar DeRozan scored 23 points while Lowry collected 18 points and 11 assists. Kris Humphries scored all of his 11 points in the fourth quarter, including seven during a decisive 15-3 run.

Rose, who missed his third-straight game, however, wasn’t concerned.

On the season, the Chicago Bulls average 101.3 points, 49.2 rebounds and 22.5 assists per game.

Three-point shooting underpinned a solid start by the Raptors, as they shot 50 percent (4 of 8) on three-pointers to take a one-point lead after the opening 12 minutes. Toronto has now lost seven straight meetings to Chicago. My bet would be that he sits out at least one more game, especially since Chicago is riding some nice momentum here.