Chicago Bulls star Jimmy Butler scored 31 points as he led his team to a Game 2 91-82 win over the Milwaukee Bucks to give the Bulls a 2-0 lead in the series.
READ MORE:
Bucks owner tells Bulls fans to stay home: Big Chicago contingent expected to travel.
Warriors and Bulls win Game 1: (Video) Favourites pick up comfortable victories.
Bulls cruise to Game 1 win over Bucks: (Video) No.3 seed led by Derrick Rose.
Butler scored 14 of his points in the fourth quarter as he came up big down the stretch while Derrick Rose overcame a slow first half in which he failed to score to finish the game with 15 points, nine assists and seven rebounds.
Meanwhile, it was a feisty encounter between the Eastern Conference rivals with multiple technical fouls being handed out as the two teams squared off on two separate occasions as the tension threatened to boil over.
Nevertheless, it was the Bulls who were able to keep their cool and produce some solid basketball on both ends of the court in order to hold off the Bucks and take a commanding lead in the series ahead of their first trip to Milwaukee later in the week.
Whether or not the Bucks can come back from this deficit remains to be seen, but they will certainly feel as though they had a chance of tying the series on Monday night as they pushed their rivals hard throughout the game to keep it close.
However, Chicago’s quality eventually shone through and Butler was to thank as he continues to impress this season ahead of signing a new deal with the franchise this summer.
Joakim Noah grabbed 19 rebounds while Pau Gasol had yet another double-double with 11 points and 16 rebounds as the Bulls big-man pairing dominated for the most part in the front-court.
The Bulls were dealt a late blow though as Nikola Mitotic limped back to the locker room with a knee injury after he had played a key role prior to half-time in getting the Bulls back in front.
It remains to be seen how serious the injury is, but the Bulls will undoubtedly be delighted to have protected home court ahead of their first road game of the series.
COMMENTS