Butler leads Bulls to 2- 0 series lead
Chicago’s Jimmy Butler ( 21) is fouled by Milwaukee center John Henson ( 31) as Jared Dudley watches.
Jimmy Butler set a playoff career high for the second straight game, scoring 31 points, and the Chicago Bulls beat the Milwaukee Bucks 91- 82 on Monday night to take a 2- 0 lead in their firstround series.
After scoring 25 points in Game 1, Butler trumped that with another terrific performance. He was at his best down the stretch, scoring 14 points in the fourth quarter on 4- for- 5 shooting, including three 3- pointers.
“I was feeling it a little bit,” Butler said, “so I just put the ball in the basket.”
Chicago’s Derrick Rose scored all of his 15 points in the second half after dominating in the series opener.
Pau Gasol added 11 points and 16 rebounds and Mike Dunleavy Jr. scored 12 points as the third- seeded Bulls grabbed a commanding lead in the series. Game 3 is Thursday at Milwaukee.
Khris Middleton led the sixth- seeded Bucks with 22 points .
The Bulls were trailing 74- 71 early in the fourth when Butler started a 13- 0 run with a 3- pointer.
He drove along the right side for a vicious two- handed dunk on Zaza Pachulia and hit the free throw to complete the three- point play. Butler finished the run with another 3, giving Chicago an 84- 74 lead with 6: 01 remaining.
“They’ve been in the playoffs before, so they understand this moment,” Bucks coach Jason Kidd said. “Butler got going there. We just couldn’t slow him down.”
Milwaukee has lost eight straight playoff games since beating Atlanta on April 28, 2010.
Sixth Man Award: Toronto guardLouWilliams won the NBA Sixth Man Award as the league’s best reserve after averaging a career- best 15.5 points in his 10th season and helping the Raptors win a franchise- record 49 games.
Hawks: Center Al Horford is not sure if he’ll be able to play in Game 2 of the first- round playoff series against Brooklyn because of a dislocated finger. Horford injured his right pinkie while going for a rebound in Atlanta’s win Sunday. He was able to return to the court with his finger taped but said “there’s still some question” about his status for Wednesday.