March 09--The swelling in Jimmy Butler's left knee is down and coach Fred Hoiberg said the All-Star guard "feels a lot better." No MRI exam had been scheduled as of Tuesday after Butler sat out Monday night's victory over the Bucks.
Hoiberg said he's unsure if Butler will play when the Bulls open a back-to-back set of games on Thursday night in San Antonio. He did strongly defend the team's use of Butler on Saturday. Butler played close to 34 minutes after practicing once despite missing the previous 11 games with a strained left knee.
"You take the necessary steps leading into a game and with Jimmy, he had been going hard two weeks," Hoiberg said of individual workouts. "We wanted to get him to a point where he was comfortable just playing and not reacting. ... We checked on Jimmy at every timeout. We got him out with about four minutes left in the first quarter; we held him out until the second. He felt great. He went back in and responded all game long.
"The next day he came in (to the Advocate Center) and worked out, felt really good. After that game, I guess in talking to the doctors and the trainers, it's not too unexpected to have a little bit of soreness. But that's what went into it. We didn't just throw him out there and say, 'All right, go see how you do.' ... He was exploding. He had no limitations. He had a couple of dunks coming down in transition. He caught a lob from Pau (Gasol)."
Meanwhile, Bobby Portis' eye, which swelled shut late Monday after taking a Jabari Parker elbow, remained swollen and his vision impaired. He's day-to-day.
Aaron Brooks, who left Monday's game early with right patellar tendinitis, got up shots and said he's fine.
Layups: Pau Gasol became the first player ever to post at least 12 points, 17 rebounds, 13 assists and five blocks in a game since the NBA began recording blocks in 1973-74. Gasol's triple-double also marked the 50th in the league this season, the most since there were also 50 in 1996-97. ... The Bulls' streak of allowing 100 or more points in 16 straight games that ended Monday was tied for the fifth-longest in the league since the 1999-2000 season.
