Jan. 16--Nikola Mirotic was pulled from the starting lineup as a power forward for Taj Gibson in December. On Friday, Tony Snell replaced him at small forward after Mirotic's recent mistake-filled performances.
"I don't need to be frustrated," Mirotic said before the Bulls game with the Mavericks at the United Center. "They're trusting me offensively even if I miss the shots."
Coach Fred Hoiberg said Mirotic, who is shooting 38.9 percent overall and 35.2 percent from 3-point range, will see the majority of his minutes as a reserve power forward playing alongside Joakim Noah.
"He's going to be fine; I'm confident in that," Hoiberg said. "He continues to be aggressive. It's what we want. (Thursday) night, I thought he pressed a little bit."
Say it loud: Hoiberg clarified two things: His screaming fit in Philadelphia came more during a timeout than at halftime, as players said.
"I think I saw a couple people take their kids home after that timeout," Hoiberg cracked.
And Hoiberg, who has been labeled erroneously as laid-back, has no problem finding that voice if it's needed.
"I felt guys needed to wake up out there. And they responded in a big way," Hoiberg said. "The second half, we played the right way. Our shot challenges were a lot better. In the first half, there were three straight times we went out with our hands down and they hit shots right in our face. That gives a team rhythm.
"I'm comfortable (yelling). I've had some pretty good rants over the course of my career."
Play it again: Jimmy Butler's career-high, 53-point game is the type of transcendent performance that makes the league take notice. Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle did.
"It's amazing really," Carlisle said. "The last year and a half, he has gone from being a really top-level system player to being a franchise foundation piece. He's obviously a hard worker. The thing you love about him from a basketball standpoint is he plays both sides of the ball."
Over the last 30 seasons, Butler posted the fifth statistic line of at least 50 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and three steals in a game. Michael Jordan did it twice, Chris Webber and Dwayne Wade.
Layups: Doug McDermott on his surprising power dunk in Philadelphia: "I need to get some more lob plays." Yes, he was joking. But then he was serious: "I mean, I've known I had that. I do it in practice. People said that was my first dunk of the year, but they're wrong. I had one at Philly my first time there." McDermott admitted he got flooded with text messages expressing shock. ... The Bulls re-assigned Cristiano Felicio to the Canton Charge of the Development League.
