Westerlund: Jimmy Butler Shines Again
By Cody Westerlund-
CHICAGO (CBS) – Kirk Hinrich hung in the air, lost in a thicket of larger-bodied Knicks defenders with nowhere to go in the lane. With his Bulls clinging to a two-point lead over the Knicks with just more than three minutes left Thursday, Hinrich was in no man's land with the shot clock dwindling under 10.
Instinctively, Hinrich contorted and flipped the ball back to near where he came from, deep into the left corner where wing Jimmy Butler awaited, Tim Hardaway Jr. draped on him. Butler gathered himself, took a small jab step and rose up with the shot clock at 5.
The 3-pointer was money, the last of his career-high scoring tally tickling the net.
Recalling this, Hinrich lets out a chuckle. This wasn't how the play was drawn up, and he left Butler in the toughest of positions.
"He definitely bailed me out," Hinrich said after Chicago's 103-97 win at the United Center. "He's been doing that for us all year."
In the midst of a career year and as a shoo-in for his first All-Star Game, Butler has continued to downplay his newfound notoriety, saying again Thursday that, "I don't want to be a star." Sometimes stardom calls upon you, though, and on what was an otherwise uninspiring mid-December night with big names Derrick Rose (illness) and Carmelo Anthony (knee soreness) sitting out, it beckoned Butler.
Logging nearly 45 minutes in all, next to teammates who played too lackadaisically for the better part of three quarters, Butler spearheaded a victory. His 35 points on 11-of-21 shooting topped his previous career-high of 32 set earlier this season, and he added a game-high seven assists and five rebounds.
Time and again as the pitiful Knicks (5-23) fought back, took a lead and then hung around in the second half, it was Butler who answered or created for others.
For one night, he did what a star does – will a team to victory by being the best player on the floor.
"Thank God for Jimmy Butler," Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said.
At one point in the third quarter, the Bulls (16-9) went to Butler on five consecutive possessions, the majority being simple isolations. He assisted on a Pau Gasol bucket, followed that with two straight space-creating/rise-up jumpers on the left side, turned the ball over on a miscommunication when drawing a double team and then went to the left block to draw a shooting foul.
Thibodeau explained some of that high usage stemmed from the Bulls being shorthanded with Rose and Taj Gibson (ankle) sitting out, but it was nonetheless a remarkable and never-before-seen reliance upon Butler.
"He's not afraid," Thibodeau said. "He's not afraid of taking big shots, the tough shot. Our team has a lot of confidence in him."
What speaks volumes about Butler more than anything is how he's gone about his business in averaging a career-high 21.5 points, 12th-best in the NBA. In a contract year, with millions of dollars on the line – he'll be a restricted free agent come July – Butler has played the right way, attacking relentlessly but always within the framework of the offense. He seemingly never does too much or too little.
"I try to help win games in any way possible," Butler said. "Whatever my team needs me (to do) – if that's scoring, rebounding, passing the ball or playing defense. That's my job on this team.
"I don't care about points.
"I've never been the best player on my team, I never probably will be, but I've always been a hard worker, a guy that doesn't give up on himself, who has the utmost confidence in himself. It's just, now I play for the Chicago Bulls."
Soon, Butler caught himself. A departure for Memphis ahead of a Friday night game against the Grizzlies was awaiting in 55 minutes. He had a bag of ice on each knee and was feeling it, as he put it.
The work Butler put in on this night reminded him of all the hard work he'd put in over the years, from his humble roots in Tomball, Texas – where he was taken in by a friend's family after his mother kicked him out as a teenager – to Tyler Junior College to Marquette to largely sitting and learning in his first two years in the NBA.
There was a time when he'd starred like this, Butler admitted somewhat sheepishly.
"Tomball," Butler said in reference to his high school. "I love my Tomball guys, but I was the best player on the team."
Cody Westerlund is a sports editor for CBSChicago.com and covers the Bulls. Follow him on Twitter @CodyWesterlund.
