When Dwyane Wade surprisingly left the Heat to sign with the Bulls in free agency, he cited restoring his hometown franchise's respectability as part of his reasoning.
Whether that has been accomplished after the Bulls squeaked into the postseason with a 41-41 mark is open to debate. But Wade and the Bulls could take a step toward that end by upsetting the top-seeded Celtics in their first-round playoff series.
To do that, the Bulls must win back-to-back elimination games, beginning with Friday's Game 6 at the United Center. Such moments are why there are multiple commas in Wade's paycheck.
"You can't think about one game from elimination," Wade said of the advice he imparted to teammates, many of whom are experiencing postseason play for the first time. "You have to focus on what you can control. You watch the film and control how to play your minutes better, how to help your team, how to give your all the next outing. We're going home, where we lost the last two. Focus on the game at hand. Don't focus on it being an elimination game. That does nothing for you."
Wade stuffed the Game 5 box score with 26 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists, narrowly missing his first career playoff triple-double. But he also committed back-to-back turnovers to help kick-start the Celtics' game-changing 20-4 run in the fourth. And a clip of him and Anthony Morrow getting crossed up and neither challenging a shot or rebound for an easy Avery Bradley put-back has widely circulated on social media.
The Bulls will need Wade to be at his best, particularly since Rajon Rondo remains out with a broken right thumb and coach Fred Hoiberg acknowledged Jimmy Butler is getting multiple treatments daily for a sore knee.
"He's got some soreness," Hoiberg said. "There's no denying that. Jimmy is a warrior. He's fighting through it. He's going to continue to do so. He'll get treatment around the clock. He's done a great job of being diligent with his treatments."
Butler downplayed a question about his knee. Then again, Butler always downplays questions about his health, no matter the severity.
"I'm good," Butler said. "Everybody is a little nicked up right now. I'll be all right."
Whether banging knees with a Celtic in the second half of Game 4 is affecting Butler's typical aggressiveness, only he knows. What is indisputable is that Butler attempted only two fourth-quarter shots, failed to score in the final period and could be seen favoring the knee at times during Game 5. He also addressed reporters while using an electronic stimulation machine on the knee.
Butler also got to the free-throw line only once all game. This after he attempted 23 free throws in Game 4.
Hoiberg pointed to Wade having the hot hand and the Celtics' aggressive defensive schemes for Butler's lack of fourth-quarter production.
"Bradley does a great job crawling underneath Jimmy. He's a great defensive player," Hoiberg said. "They have three of the best defensive wing players in the league with (Jae) Crowder, Bradley and (Marcus) Smart."
Butler scored two points on 1-for-5 shooting with a turnover when matched against Bradley.
This might be where the Bulls miss Rondo the most. His ability to probe defenses and get teammates open shots adds another challenge to the Celtics defense and frees Butler.
"We had a really good thing going with Rajon," Hoiberg said. "Our flow was excellent. Our pace was really good. We got the ball down the floor early and got quick strikes before the defense was set.
"Obviously, the dynamic of our team has changed with Rajon out. We played quite a few stretches (Wednesday) _ really the majority of the game _ without a point guard on the floor. And it's probably going to be that way the rest of the series. We're still confident. We're still going to continue to fight."
Indeed, Wade initiated offense for most of the stretch run in Game 5. That's a role Butler typically has.
"At this time of year, people are banged-up. It's expected," Wade said. "But we have to do a better job of putting him in different places on the basketball floor. I don't know exactly what he's going through or what he's feeling. But it's tough when you are banged up, and you try to beat a guy from half-court to the rim, or three defenders. So we've got to do a better job of finding areas for him to work without having to work so hard. That's on all of us."
The Bulls are saying all the right things. They remain confident.
"I like the makeup of this team," Robin Lopez said. "I don't doubt us at all."
Wade, who said the Bulls played well for 44 of 48 minutes in Wednesday's tough road environment, even called where the Bulls are "a good place."
