By Jessica Patton
TORONTO — It was Jimmy Butler time Sunday in Toronto.
What the Bulls reserves lacked, Butler made up for in a 115-113 comeback win against the Toronto Raptors, pushing the Bulls' winning streak to a season-high four games.
Butler was held almost scoreless in the first quarter, sitting at two points when he took a DeMarre Carroll elbow to a face. When he returned in the third with a lacerated lip, he was a new man, scoring 40 points in the second half and finishing with 42 on the night.
The 40-point second half eclipsed Michael Jordan’s franchise record of 39.
“He just made play after play,” head coach Fred Hoiberg said, shaking his head in disbelief after the win. “He was unbelievable with the ball in his hands; hitting fade away shots, the last three, getting himself to the free-throw line.
“Just a really, really good individual performance.”
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Nikola Mirotic and Pau Gasol added 17 points and 19 points, respectively. Gasol also had 13 rebounds and six assists.
“We’re on the right path,” Gasol said when asked if the win meant the Bulls were turning a corner on the season. “We’re not going to throw fireworks, we haven’t won a championship or gotten close yet, but we’re on the right path, now we’re competing.
“Since the Oklahoma City game, we’re competing every night and we’re giving ourselves a chance every night, and that’s we need to continue to do in order for us to have a chance at the end of the year.”
It looked to be all Raptors as they pulled away after an even first quarter to lead 60-48 at half, but much like when the two teams met last Monday in Chicago, the Bulls came back in the fourth to get the win.
It was the Bulls seventh consecutive win against the Raptors. The bench scored 51 points in a 104-74 win over the Raptors last Monday, but they failed to repeat those numbers this time, scoring only 20.
The team had been struggling to close out games after starting off hot, something they had been working on the past month. With the win against the Raptors and a new win-streak cemented, the Bulls seem to be on the right page going into the New Year.
“It was a very important week for us,” Hoiberg explained. “The first thing was to protect our home court. We had three good wins. That Indiana game wasn’t looking too good there at the end, we found a way to pull that one out, and the same thing with today’s game.”
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DeMar DeRozan finished with 24 for the Raptors, while Luis Scola had himself a night, matching his season high with 22 points.
While the offense was there for the Raptors, it was the lack of defense in the final minutes that cost them their second loss to the Bulls in a week.
“We can’t give up 34 points in the fourth quarter,” head coach Dwane Casey said. “You have to put your foot down, put your foot on their neck and close it out.
“I thought we had control up to that point, but we just didn’t put our stamp on it in the fourth quarter defensively.”
The Bulls were without starting point guard Derrick Rose, who sat out his third straight game due to a hamstring issue. He is scheduled for an MRI on Monday back in Chicago.
“We have to go back home for a couple (games) and hopefully build off this, play well and get our confidence up and hopefully get a couple of guys healthy,” Hoiberg said. “That would help us right now.”
Next up for the Bulls is a game against the division-rival Milwaukee Bucks back at home Tuesday.