Jimmy Buckets is on the rise.
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The Bulls were able to come away with a hard fought 93-85 victory that likely shouldn't have been so hard fought.  They just had trouble shaking a pesky Bobcats team who was able to hang around most of the night due to the hot shooting of Ben Gordon and Kemba Walker.

But, oh, what that shooting could do in a more efficient and more cohesive offense.  The Bobcats offense was so stagnant and impeded by tough Bulls defense, that most of their looks weren't even that good. 

And that was the key to the game for the Bulls:  coming up with stop after another, and not giving the Cats many quality looks.

In addition to that, the Bulls did everything right that the Bobcats are still trying to accomplish.  They moved the ball and found one another on back cuts.  The Bulls movement away from the ball on offense was superb.

Jimmy Butler is now looking like the premier prospect on the Bulls team.  Butler scored 19 points and was aggressive all night, and should give the Bulls a great perimeter threat when they face the Miami Heat in the playoffs.

Butler and Deng.

Rose returning.

All things are looking up in Chi-town.

"GET ON THE BOOZ CRUIZE!" 

-Bulls announcer Stacey King, as Carlos Boozer delivered a lefty hammer on Bismack Biyombo's head

BULLS 88, BOBCATS 81 — 1:07 4th

Bulls fans have to be getting excited about the defensive flexibility Jimmy Butler will lend the Bulls in future matchups against the Miami Heat.

The Bulls now can stick Butler on Miami's Dwyane Wade and leave Luol Deng to contend with LeBron James.  Butler and Deng is every bit as good a defensive tandem as any of the other backcourt defensive duos that are thrown at the Heat (e.g., Rondo & Bradley, Sefolosha & Westbrook, et al.)

BULLS 86, BOBCATS 80 — 1:43 4th

The Bulls backup guards have contributed 30 points (15 from Jimmy Butler, 15 from Nate Robinson), while the starting backcourt has just eight points (Kirk Hinrich has six and Rip Hamilton has two).

BULLS 84, BOBCATS 76 — 2:44 4th

Joakim Noah is one hell of a passer, but not quite adept at running the break.  He is still 7-foot, after all.  

Noah pushed it nice in transition but over threw Jimmy Butler as he cut to the basket.

BULLS 82, BOBCATS 74 — 3:18 4th

The Bobcats have scored just 10 points on 10 Chicago Bulls turnovers, while the Bulls have scored 15 points on 11 Bobcats turnovers.  

The game really hasn't been as well played as those numbers indicate though...offenses don't have to turn the ball over to be sloppy.

BULLS 80, BOBCATS 69 — 5:29 4th

Nate Robinson is in full-on attack mode.  After hitting a three-point shot on a one-on-three fast break, Nate came back to push it into the paint for a little floater that he missed.  The Bulls are up by double-digits, but Nate wants to push this one out of control...by playing out of control.

Nate's hit a three and scored on a steal since that last update and the Bulls are on their way to running away with this.

BULLS 75, BOBCATS 61 — 8:48 4th, Bobcats Timeout

Trey's good.
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Nate Robinson reached in and came up with a big steal to ignite a Jimmy Butler fast break dunk.  After picking up four fouls, Nate had to have been thinking twice about it, but he couldn't resist.

Robinson has 10 points, six rebounds, three assists, three blocks and only one turnover in 19 minutes of play.  The Bulls are plus-17 with Robinson on the court.

BULLS 68, BOBCATS 55 — 11:22 4th, Bobcats Timeout

Nate Robinson was grabbing his arm after a failed last second shot to close the third quarter.  Robinson isolated himself from the top of the key and put his head down and went to the basket.  To the uniformed fan it was just an end of the quarter isolation play, but to Nate, it's everything.

BULLS 63, BOBCATS 55 — End of 3rd

Immediately after checking back into the game, Nate Robinson picked up his fourth foul.  

BULLS 59, BOBCATS 55 — 2:03 3rd

The Bobcats need to do one of two things, only one of which can be done tonight:

1) Acquire more talent so they can score in the half court

2) Get out in transition and stop playing half court ball

Their offense really looks no more diversified than a pick up game in the half court.

BULLS 56, BOBCATS 55 — 2:50 3rd 

With Ben Gordon starting to heat up, Tom Thibodeau pulled out his defensive stopper card and sent Jimmy Butler to check into the game.  Let's see what Jimmy Buckets can do with the hot shooting UConn product.

BULLS 53, BOBCATS 49 — 5:35 3rd

The Bobcats defense looks marginally competent against a proficient Bulls offense, but it must be kept in mind that this is the Bulls without Derrick Rose.  Who do the Cats have to throw at premier perimeter players?  

Their best (offensive) backcourt features Kemba Walker and Ben Gordon, and can't matchup against bigger physical backcourts.

BULLS 51, BOBCATS 46 — 6:58 3rd

As comfortable as Jeff Adrien appears to be shooting mid-range jumpers, I'm willing to be Tom Thibodeau is just as confident giving them to him.

Adrien has 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting, but something tells me the Bulls would prefer Adrien to be taking those shots to Kemba Walker.

BULLS 49, BOBCATS 42 — 9:24 3rd

The Bobcats offense is just far too simple and predictable.  Kemba Walker gets it, check.  Dribble, dribble, shot fake.  Repeat.

There is so little movement away from the ball and save an occasional pick and roll, very little cooperation between the Cats offensively.

BULLS 49, BOBCATS 40 — 10:25 3rd

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The Bulls had a nice close to the first half as they grabbed an offensive rebound on a Kirk Hinrich pull up and kicked it back out to Hinrich for a triple from the wing.

The Bulls have been moving the ball well and out-hustling the Bobcats, which is about all that is required given that they are a much more talented team with or without Derrick Rose.

Expect the Bobcats to come out and try to push the pace a little to get some easier looks, because they are struggling to find good shots in half court offense.  The Bobcats have some pieces on their team to enable transition play, but will have to look to run when the Bulls commit turnovers.

BULLS 49, BOBCATS 40 — Halftime

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Watching Brendan Haywood, you'll see a flash of what once was every now and again.  Haywood spun along the baseline to hit a turnaround jumper over Joakim Noah and he has four points and a blocked shot so far.

The thing is, Haywood is just two seasons removed from averaging a double-double.  In 2009-10 with the Washington Wizards, Haywood averaged nearly 10 points per game and 10.3 rebounds per night.  

This year?  4.2 points per game and 5.2 rebounds per game.

BULLS 46, BOBCATS 38 — 48.0 seconds in Half

Nate Robinson saw more minutes than usual in the first half of tonight's game, playing nearly 16 minutes.  Robinson did pick up three fouls, though.  

More amazing than the three fouls, however, was that tiny Nate somehow swatted three shots.  With proper timing, amazing things can be done with a 40-plus inch vertical leap.

BULLS 40, BOBCATS 33 — 2:17 in Half

The Bobcats continue to struggle to get good looks.  They've been pushed late into the shot clock on the last several possessions, but were bailed out by a long Kemba Walker three to cut the lead to seven points.

Comparatively, the Bulls have worked each play for very good shots and the ball isn't "sticking" too long in anyone's hands.

BULLS 40, BOBCATS 33 — 2:26 in Half

Tom Thibodeau seems committed to finding minutes for Jimmy Butler.  He's using Butler and Luol Deng at the same time right now, with Butler playing the 2-guard spot.  

It's imperative to get talent on the court, regardless of position sometimes.  And the Bulls will need to know if Butler can potentially be their shooting guard of the future.

BULLS 40, BOBCATS 26 — 4:19 2nd

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At this point it's difficult to discern whether Kemba Walker is a legit force as an NBA player or just a good scorer on a horrible team.  Walker is just 1-of-6 from the floor tonight, and when Walker isn't scoring Charlotte has even more trouble.

The Bobcats are having trouble finding sources for offense and aren't getting very good looks at the basket.  The general assumption is that a very talented player would be getting his teammates more involved than Walker is.

BULLS 40, BOBCATS 26 — 5:12 2nd

Luol Deng is still only 27 years old and in the heart of his prime, but it's good for the Bulls to see they have a long-term answer for Deng in Jimmy Butler.  Many have even speculated Butler could play the 2 spot, which has a more pressing need than the small forward position.  

Butler is a lock-down defender, but his offense has been coming along very well.  Selected No. 30 overall in 2011, he is looking like one of the steals of that draft class.

BULLS 27, BOBCATS 22 — 9:47 2nd

The Bobcats aren't moving the ball well.  In the quarter's closing possession, they had two second chance looks but chose to just one-on-one isolate their way into poor shots.  The difference between a team with mediocre talent playing mediocre ball and a reasonably talented team playing extremely well are on display tonight.

BULLS 21, BOBCATS 18 — End of 1st

Tom Thibodeau has gone with four reserves and starting center Joakim Noah to close the first quarter.

Taj Gibson, Nate Robinson, Jimmy Butler and Marco Belinelli form a strong lineup for the Bulls.  

They're closing out the quarter well, as a Bobcats turnover spurred a Taj Gibson dunk to give the Bulls a three-point lead.

BULLS 21, BOBCATS 18 — 1:02 1st

As solid as Jeff Adrien has been, the Bobcats would likely be better than 11-32 if Byron Mullens were still in the lineup.  Prior to going down with a bad ankle sprain, Mullens had been drawing a lot of comparisons to a (very) poor man's Tim Duncan.  

The Bobcats need all the interior play they can get, and when Mullens returns it should help against teams like the Bulls who feature a number of good post players.

BOBCATS 18, BULLS 17 — 2:09 1st, Charlotte Timeout