Nobody could’ve scripted a more dramatic finish.
Close to eight months after the Bulls and Timberwolves changed the faces and directions of their franchises, Jimmy Butler and Zach LaVine engaged in a shootout for the ages.
Similar to the reaction of many to last June’s trade, which has moved from being reviled to respected, the Bulls erased a 17-point lead and snapped a seven-game losing streak with a 114-113 victory, secured when Butler’s 23-foot jumper rimmed out at the buzzer.
LaVine matched a career-best streak with his fourth straight 20-point game and finished with a season-high 35 points, scoring the Bulls’ final 11. Those included three free throws with 18.4 seconds left when Butler fouled LaVine on a 3-point attempt.
“I definitely fouled him,” Butler said. “You never want to lose like that. But it happens sometimes.”
LaVine scored 15 in the fourth. Butler scored 13 of his game-high 38 in the final period, giving him three straight 30-point games for the first time in his career.
“It just played out that way,” LaVine said of the fourth-quarter shootout. “I don’t think either one of us is going to back down. At first, he was on fire so I had a little bit of catching up. We definitely fought our way back. I got my points on him. He got some on me. His pump fake is still crazy.”
The whole night was that. LaVine called going up against the team that drafted and traded him “cool, but kind of weird.” Butler joked that the video tribute to him and Taj Gibson that aired in the first quarter reminded him never again to sport short hair.
“You have to realize it’s a business,” Butler said. “Not a lot of guys stay in one place forever. They moved in a different direction. Good for them, honestly.”
Executive vice president John Paxson visited Butler and Gibson in the postgame locker room.
“It was cool,” Butler said. “I think everybody knows I got a lotta love for this organization, this city, this fan base. Me and Taj talk about it all the time: This is where is started for both of us. It was great to see familiar faces. That’s the type of guy Pax is, come in and say ‘What’s up,’ check in on me. I’m happy they’re doing well. They deserve it. The city of Chicago definitely does.”
The city also had that “snow day” vibe to it with schools closed and offices allowing employees to work from home. That even extended to the NBA, with both teams canceling their morning shootaround.
But instead of playing, Butler did what he always does: He went to work.
Four hours before the late tipoff, a familiar and unfamiliar sight unfolded at the same time. Butler arrived early to get up extra shots, but this time he wore a Timberwolves jersey in his first trip back since the Bulls traded him last June.
“Jimmy is a fierce competitor,” Timberwolves and former Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said. “The thing that makes him so special is everyone is trying to make this into something bigger than it is. Anytime you do go back, it does mean something. But what makes Jimmy so special is he treats every game that way. He plays every game like it’s his last.”
So did the Bulls, who also had Jerian Grant miss a triple-double by two rebounds and welcomed Lauri Markkanen back from his three-game paternity absence with 12 points on just seven shots.
“We need to get him more,” coach Fred Hoiberg said.
The appreciative crowd greeted both Butler and Gibson — also in his first trip back since last February’s trade to the Thunder — with several ovations. Following the loudest, a standing ovation after a video tribute to both players aired, both Butler and Gibson acknowledged the crowd.
But Butler is always, ultimately, about business. That’s why Thibodeau knew Butler would be the perfect addition to a young mix featuring Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins that is trying to end a 13-year playoff drought.
“He has just changed everything,” Thibodeau said. “What he did (with the Bulls) was phenomenal to grow the way he did. I was away from him for two years but just seeing the growth in him in terms of leadership, in many ways it reminds me of the way Luol (Deng) was with him. He has done a great job with our younger guys. For (Towns) and (Wiggins), they’re going through the things that Jimmy just went through. He learned a lot from that experience and is sharing that with these guys.”
Butler added seven rebounds, five assists and four steals and appreciated the fans’ reaction.
“A lot of love and respect,” Butler said. “It’s great to see the fan base come out and watch me and Taj compete like we’re still in a Bulls uniform — heering for us, excited for us. This is where it all started. They remember us for that. We love them right back for it.”
Butler badly wanted to remain with the Bulls and, though he mostly took the high road publicly, was stung by the trade. In a phone interview last summer the day after the trade, Butler admitted as much.
“They weren’t convinced I was good enough — whatever you want to call it,” Butler said while vacationing in Paris.
Both teams have come a long way since then and remain pleased with the trade. And for at least one night, the Bulls and LaVine got the last word.
“They put the ball in my hands and trusted me to make the right plays,” LaVine said.
Twitter @kcjhoop
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