BUTLER COMES TO RESCUE MINUS ROSE, GASOL
Late defensive gem extends win streak vs. Raptors to nine
TORONTO — For two years now, there has been a lot of noise about the Toronto Raptors being a growing powerhouse in the Eastern Conference.
Once again, the Bulls weren’t overly impressed.
Even with center Pau Gasol ( right knee) back in Chicago, guard Derrick Rose ( groin) on the bench and forward Mike Dunleavy ( flu) lying on a couch in the locker room, the undermanned Bulls continued their dominance of the Raptors with a 109- 107 victory Monday at the Air Canada Centre. The result gave the Bulls nine consecutive victories against the Raptors.
Was it pretty? Not by any means, especially in the fourth quarter, when the Bulls ( 33- 32) watched a game they led by 13 points with 10: 49 left turn into a nail- biter down the stretch.
In fact, the Raptors’ DeMar DeRozan appeared set to drive the length of the court and tie the score in the final seconds before Jimmy Butler, who had missed 14 of the Bulls’ last 15 games with a strained left knee, got a hand on the ball to foil a layup. Not only that, but he knocked the ball off DeRozan’s knee and out of bounds with less than a second left to preserve the victory.
‘‘ I’ve guarded him plenty,’’ Butler said of DeRozan. ‘‘ I know [ if] you bring that ball down, you gotta bring it up to get it to the basket. Luckily, I had a quick- enough hand to get a piece of it. Hit off his knee, and we took it the other way.’’
Butler finished with 13 points, five rebounds and six assists in only his second game since Feb. 6. Not the greatest numbers, to be sure, but considering he played just less than 34 minutes — including the entire fourth quarter — there was little to complain about.
‘‘ A win is a win, no matter how [ bad] I played,’’ Butler said, downplaying his 5- for- 18 shooting.
Coach Fred Hoiberg saw Butler’s performance a bit differently. One day after Hoiberg told his players they needed to ‘‘ nut the [ bleep] up,’’ Butler helped drive that point home with his defense alone.
‘‘ That was a huge play by Jimmy,’’ Hoiberg said. ‘‘ Just made a heck of a play on the ball. They set that screen high, and Jimmy just fought through it.’’
Then again, Butler’s return was made easier by Doug McDermott and E’Twaun Moore, who gave the Raptors’ soft defense problems all night. McDermott scored 27 points on 9- for- 11 shooting, including four three- pointers, and Moore 17 points on 8- for- 11 shooting.
The Bulls built a 58- 52 halftime lead on the strength of 24 points on 7- for- 7 shooting by McDermott. By the end of the third, McDermott and Moore had combined for 46 points on 16- for- 18 shooting.
The victory enabled the Bulls to jump back into the eighth and final playoff spot in the conference. Butler said he knows his sore knee and burning lungs will have to take a back seat to doing whatever it takes for the Bulls to win down the stretch.
‘‘ I think my knee is going to be banged up a little bit,’’ Butler said. ‘‘ Gotta learn to live with it, get my wind back, get in that gym, get my rhythm back.’’