Westerlund: 5 Thoughts After Bulls-Hornets
By Cody Westerlund--
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The Bulls clinched a playoff spot with a 98-86 win over the Hornets on Monday night at the United Center.
Here are the observations and notes of the night.
1. In what's already been a wild Bulls campaign, there's no more fascinating subplot right now than the late-season emergence of rookie forward Nikola Mirotic, whose play has many recalibrating what Chicago is capable of. If Mirotic continues to be a go-to scorer/creator and step up down the stretch? A trip to the NBA Finals is within the Bulls' grasp.
Think about that for a second. In a season in which Derrick Rose has shown flashes of brilliance and also undergone a third knee surgery and in a year in which the on-court play has often been overshadowed by the icy relationship between the front office and coach Tom Thibodeau, there's a more compelling topic right now.
On Monday, Mirotic had 28 points, one off a career-high, on 10-of-19 shooting. His highlight-reel perofrmance included a monstrous dunk over Jason Maxiell in crunch time, then a strong left-handed layup finish through Maxiell for a three-point play a possession later.
"Size and skill – that's what you win with in this league," Hornets coach Steve Clifford said of the 6-foot-10 Mirotic.
Mirotic has now closed Chicago's last 10 games that have been in doubt down the stretch. He's becoming a staple of the crunch-time lineup, and Thibodeau knows what he's got. Asked if he'd considered moving Mirotic to the starting lineup, Thibodeau said he'd given it zero thought.
"The role he's in, I think that's the best role for him," Thibodeau said.
2. Mirotic now has 148 fourth-quarter points since the All-Star Break, the most in the NBA and an average of 8.2 per game. On Monday night, he had 14 points in playing the final 12 minutes.
In a telling statement, Thibodeau credited Bulls teammates – specifically point guard Aaron Brooks – for looking Mirotic's way.
"I thought the guys searched him out," Thibodeau said. "I thought Aaron (Brooks) was terrific in the pick-and-roll and I thought he made great plays throughout. He found Niko late."
In other words, Thibodeau is cool with the offense running through Mirotic late.
"Dude can play," Jimmy Butler said. "He's basically carried us this month, to tell you the truth. He's confident. He's going to continue to get better, because he's always in the gym working on his gym."
3. After missing 11 games with a hyper-extended left elbow, Butler returned and scored 19 points on 6-of-20 shooting. Butler's elbow felt "perfect," but he was upset with a series of missed easy looks around the basket.
"I got to get better," Butler said. "I felt like I hurt us in a lot of ways, even though we got the win, don't get me wrong. I made a lot of mental mistakes. That just can't happen."
Butler's 20 attempted shots were one off a season-high, and he was 7-of-10 from the free-throw line, so he wasn't shy offensively.
"You got to shoot the rust out," Butler said. "That's what Pau (Gasol) told me to do.
"Timing-wise, I think I'm a little off. Ball placement, being in the right spot."
In other injury news, Bulls big man Joakim Noah was a late scratch with what the team termed "general soreness." It was symbolic of Chicago's conservative approach with Noah, who's battled a nagging knee injury all season and been in a 32-minute restriction.
Noah "should be fine" moving forward, Thibodeau said.
4. One of these days, Chicago's foes will learn that Gasol's dangerous on corner 3-pointers. Monday wasn't that night.
Gasol closed the third quarter with a right corner trey that gave the Bulls a 74-69 lead. He's now shooting 12-of-22 on 3-pointers this year, a clip of nearly 55 percent. Of those, 19 have been corner 3-point attempts, with Gasol making 11.
Many of Gasol's 3-point attempts come in the closing seconds of quarters when the Bulls spread the floor and let a guard create. Not that opponents have caught on, though.
"It's natural," Gasol joked before turning more serious.
"I like to mix it up. I've always been a versatile player. For the most part of my NBA career, I've always been in the post. I wasn't too much (for) shooting threes … But in our offense, there's certain plays where I'm mostly in those corners, and it's been effective so far. I look forward to the good looks."
5. With the win, the Bulls clinched a playoff spot for the seventh straight year, including all five of Thibodeau's tenure. At 43-29, Chicago is mathematically tied with 42-28 Toronto for the East's third seed. The two teams meet Wednesday in Canada.
With 10 games left, running down the Cavaliers (46-26) for second place seems quite unlikely, but the Bulls still have plenty of confidence come the grind of the playoffs.
"I still think we're the toughest team to beat in a seven-game series," Noah said at Monday's shootaround.
Cody Westerlund is a sports editor for CBSChicago.com and covers the Bulls. Follow him on Twitter @CodyWesterlund.
