Jimmy Butler’s explosive half powers the Chicago Bulls to victory

Bulls.com writer, Sam Smith, who has seen it all, had this to say on Butler’s second half performance.

Butler scored 40 points in the second half Sunday to break Michael Jordan’s record for points in a half by a Bull, propelling Chicago to a 115-113 victory over the Toronto Raptors.

In the fourth, Butler put the Bulls in front with a 3-pointer from the corner with 30.9 seconds to go to give Chicago its first lead since early in the second.

Even with Derrick Rose missing for a second straight game with right hamstring tendonitis, the Chicago Bulls left no doubt who was the superior team when grabbing their victory Friday night over the New York Knicks, 108-81.

Asked about breaking Jordan’s record, Butler said, “Do not compare me to him”. I don’t want to be compared to him because then people are going to think I gotta do what he did.

“He didn’t do it on goal, but it does mess up my swagger so I can’t go on a date for a while”, Butler said after the game. “Obviously, scoring 40 in the half, it’s something you don’t see every day, so I’m just proud of him”.

It was in the second quarter in which Butler caught an elbow from DeMarre Carroll, and had to go into the locker room to get stitched up.

“I don’t know yet”, Hoiberg said to ESPN.

This was the second game that Rose has missed with this injury, but Chicago has been able to overcome his absence in both bouts. Toronto is following a trend in which it wins when it holds the opponent to fewer than 100 points and loses whenever allowing triple digits. Cory Joseph had nine points off the bench during the quarter. For the first 24 games of the Chicago Bulls’ season, Bobby Portis watched, cheered on his teammates and waited his turn.

RAPTORS 104, HORNETS 94: In Toronto, DeMar DeRozan had 23 points and Kyle Lowry added 18 points and 11 assists as Toronto rallied.

MIAMI – Hassan Whiteside had 25 points and 19 rebounds to lead Miami past Dallas at AmericanAirlines Arena. The Wizards shot 34.1 percent. Center Jonas Valanciunas cut the lead to one with 5.7 seconds left.

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.

Bulls centre Joakim Noah missed his fifth straight game with a left shoulder sprain, but coach Fred Hoiberg said Noah is doing very well. During a 123-122 overtime win against the Los Angeles Lakers on December 9, Towns posted 26 points, 14 rebounds and three blocks. The Raptors travel to Cleveland to play the Cavaliers on Monday, the first of five straight road games, including a trip to London to play the Orlando Magic on Jan 14.