Jimmy Butler scored 42 points in a close Bulls win over Toronto, scoring 40 of his points in the second half. Something Michael Jordan himself never did in 13 years with Chicago. Just don’t freak out and start comparing them with each other.
“Don’t compare me to him,” Butler said. “That’s exactly what I said [when I found out]. I don’t want to be compared to him because then people are going to think I got to do what he did. I’m trying. But we’re nowhere near the same player.”
So what kick started Butler after scoring just two points in the first half? Taj Gibson says an unintentional elbow to the face by Raptors DeMarre Carroll in the second quarter did the trick.
“He was a man possessed [Sunday],” Bulls forward Taj Gibson said of Butler. “He was so mad, so mad when he got hit in the mouth. You can tell, so much blood flowing everywhere, he was so mad. I’ve never seen him get that mad before.
“He’s been in a rough game before, but especially getting his lip busted. But he came back a man possessed. Just going, trying to get stops, kept attacking the basket. It was just one of those nights where you just can’t miss. When he hit that corner three [in the third], I knew it was his night.”
The moral of the story is to never make Jimmy Butler bleed his own blood.
