Losing Sleep, But Not Over Bulls With Butler Back

Sunday smorgasbord: What’s this abut falling back and saving an hour’s sleep? Somehow it never fails that your humble correspondent manages to lose an hour’s sleep when Daylight Saving Time rolls around. Regardless of all that, it says here that Chicago Bulls fans should have slept well Saturday night/Sunday.

Video below of Playboy’s Nikki Leigh awaiting your perusal.

* The reason for Bulls fans to have gone to bed (or wherever they go to sleep) happy resides in the team’s victory vs. the host Minnesota Timberwolves. Despite Derrick Rose and Taj Gibson sitting out the game because of ankle injuries, the Bulls won 106-105. Jimmy Butler, who had sat out the Bulls’ first two games had 24 points, including two free throws with 0.2 seconds left for the final points of the game. If he was looking to send a message a day after he and the team failed to reach a contract agreement by the NBA deadline, consider it sent.

* Speaking of Butler, if he’s looking to cash in on performances such as Saturday night’s, he will need to have greater consistency with his productivity. Although if he can score the winning points on a regular basis, we may want to rethink the consistency (OK, not really).

* Still speaking of Butler, his final two free throws came after he slipped, recovered and faked a shot that drew Wolves rookie Andre Wiggins into the air to block a shot. Something says Minnesota coach Flip Saunders will have a chance for that moment to become a learning experience — if he already hasn’t made it one.

* Speaking of the Bulls, it’s seems safe to say after three games into their season that they have the ability — meaning basically the personnel — to win a fair number of games with or without key players. At some point, all the Bulls starters will be healthy enough so we can see how coach Tom Thibodeau will use them and his bench.

* Speaking of Butler (well, we were a paragraph or so ago), if he wants to land the type of contract that Oakland Warriors guard Klay Thompson did (he signed a four-year maximim contract extension Friday worth about $70 million), he might look at Thompson’s performance Saturday night in a victory over the Los Angeles Lakers: 41 points on 14-of-18 shootinf from the field, including 5-of-7 three-point attempts. Granted that Butler’s talents extend beyond scoring, but something says if the Bulls could swap Butler for Thompson, they would (and pay him accordingly, too).

* In addition to a friendly reminder to turn your clocks back (if you have not already done so), the reason you can’t find the Chicago Bears football coach on your television or radio is they have this week off. Meaning some of us will have gone to sleep — even if it is after 4 a.m. — knowing we can sleep in and not miss the game. Of course, the trick will be to sleep in late, but some of us are up to that challenge — Daylight Saving Time or not.

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