Jimmy Butler's Big Night Leads Bulls Past Wizards, 106-95
CHICAGO (AP) — Jimmy Butler scored 37 points, and the Chicago Bulls beat the short-handed Washington Wizards 106-95 on Saturday night.
Butler did all he could to carry the Bulls on a night when the Wizards were missing star guards John Wall and Bradley Beal.
Butler finished two points shy of his season high. He hit all 14 free throws, grabbed eight rebounds and dished out a season-high nine assists.
Nikola Mirotic added 17 points. Dwyane Wade scored 14. Taj Gibson chipped in with 13 points. The Bulls won back-to-back games for the first time since a 3-0 start, but forward Doug McDermott exited with a concussion early in the fourth quarter.
Markieff Morris had a season-high 24 points after scoring 20 the previous night. Marcin Gortat added 18 points and 14 rebounds.
Sheldon McClellan scored 15 with Beal missing his second straight game because of a sore right hamstring. Tomas Satoransky chipped in with 12 points and nine assists filling in at point guard with Wall sitting out, and the Wizards fell to 0-4 on the road.
Butler got off to a scorching start with 21 points in the first half and kept it going with 11 more in the third to help the Bulls turn a 56-53 deficit into an 81-70 lead.
Wade gave Chicago a 68-66 lead when he hit a fadeaway shot with just under five minutes remaining, and Butler went to work after that.
He scored on a runner after Gibson blocked Morris' 20-footer. And with Chicago leading 70-68 after Burke banked in a jumper, Butler scored eight in an 11-2 run to close the quarter.
Along the way, Wizards coach Scott Brooks jumped off the bench and got called for a technical in the closing minute of the quarter when Jason Smith fouled a dunking Gibson. McDermott made the technical free throw, but he left the game after he crashed to the court early in the fourth.
He was going for a layup when a rotating Morris nailed him in the head, quieting the crowd. McDermott walked off the court and is headed back into the concussion protocol after missing a game 10 days earlier.
Morris got called for a flagrant foul 1, and Mirotic hit two free throws.
TIP-INS
Wizards: Wall, coming off surgery on both knees, isn't playing in both halves of back-to-back sets. Coach Scott Brooks said that could change after the Wizards play Philadelphia and New York on Wednesday and Thursday. ... Beal is day to day.
Bulls: Coach Fred Hoiberg said that Carter-Williams has not experienced any setbacks in his recovery from a bruised left knee and sprained left wrist. Carter-Williams was expected to miss four to six weeks after taking a hard fall at Brooklyn on Oct. 31.
UP NEXT
Wizards: Visit Philadelphia on Wednesday.
Bulls: The Bulls play six straight on the road, starting with Tuesday's game at Portland.
Copyright 2016 The Associated Press.
