National Basketball Association roundup: Butler scores 42 to lead Bulls

“He didn’t do it on objective, but it does mess up my swagger so I can’t go on a date for a while”, Butler said after the game.

“It was just extremely frustrating to miss all those shots”, rookie Kristaps Porzingis said. The Raptors had no answer for him.

“We had some shots that didn’t go in to start the fourth quarter and I thought we got discouraged and we let our energy get turned around the other way and it just kind of snowballed from there”, Knicks coach Derek Fisher said.

DeMar DeRozan led the way for the Raptors with 24 points and Kyle Lowry had his fifth double-double of the season with 22 points and 10 assists, while Luis Scola also had 22 points for Toronto (see full recap).

DeMarre Carroll and Patrick Patterson both added 14 points each for Toronto.

Not only did the Raptors learn that Butler is establishing himself as National Basketball Association elite, but also learned never make Butler taste his own blood. And his final field goal of the game, fittingly, was a three-pointer he launched over Carroll with 31 seconds left that gave Chicago its first lead since early in the second quarter.

Bobby Portis’ emergence as a reserve offensive force and Hoiberg’s desire to keep Taj Gibson as a stabilizing presence alongside Gasol in the starting lineup has pushed Mirotic to starting small forward the last nine games. “Guys made some big shots”, Butler stated. I was mad, yeah.

Jordan Clarkson added 19 points for the Lakers, who won their second straight game for the first time since February of last season.

NOTES: Bulls G Derrick Rose missed his second consecutive game because of right hamstring tendinitis.

The 26-year-old shooting guard rattled in a clutch 3-pointer with 30 seconds left as the Bulls beat the Raptors for the second time in 6 days.

Granted, Butler did this for one game while Jordan did it for a career. One half. Still, it was an awesome run. They have been working hard lately, and it has now paid off for them as they are in fourth place in their conference, trailing the Raptors and Hawks by just a pair of wins. “Once you’re scoring and get hot, it doesn’t matter what you do from there”. “The way they were pressuring us in the first half, we couldn’t get the ball reversed or swung, so we just put the ball in Jimmy’s hands”. They head out on a five-game road trip that begins Monday night versus LeBron James and Cavaliers, and will conclude with a game against the Orlando Magic staged at the O2 Arena in London, England.

“He hit a tough shot”, Lowry said.

Butler’s performance came after he got a stitch in his mouth. “Just trying to go out there and just play my role and bring positive energy”.

That ended the Raptors’ three-game home stand, and they won’t play at the Air Canada Centre again until January 18. Center Jonas Valanciunas cut the lead to one with 5.7 seconds left.