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Zach LaVine, Bulls ruin Jimmy Butler’s Chicago homecoming

The 76ers blew two chances to win the game in the final seconds.

" We got away from what we said we were going to do, and, once again, the opposing team did their job," Jimmy Butler said of the 76ers' loss to the Bulls in Chicago.
" We got away from what we said we were going to do, and, once again, the opposing team did their job," Jimmy Butler said of the 76ers' loss to the Bulls in Chicago.Read moreChris Sweda / MCT

CHICAGO – Zach LaVine crashed what could have been Jimmy Butler Day at the United Center.

The Bulls shooting guard scored the game-winning layup with 1 second left to lift Chicago to a 108-107 victory over the 76ers on Wednesday. LaVine also had a game-high 39 points on 14-for-26 shooting.

The Sixers (41-24), still had a chance -- actually two chances -- to win the game.

However, Ben Simmons misfired on an alley-oop attempt to Butler with 0.5 seconds left and time expired. But it was ruled the game clock had started before the play. So the the players were brought back out of the locker rooms and the Sixers were given another chance in what was close to an empty arena.

This time, Butler bobbled the inbound pass and time expired. Bulls small forward Otto Porter wasn’t on the floor on that final play, due to being in the process of taking a league-mandated drug test.

“I was in mid-stride,” he said. “I couldn’t stop.”

Tobias Harris was asked what stung the most from this loss.

“Probably losing twice,” he said, “because we lost first and then we went back out there to do it again.”

But the power forward and his teammates realize they blew an opportunity way before the final play.

“We didn’t do what we were supposed to do down the stretch,” Butler said. “We got comfortable a little bit. We got away from what we said we were going to do, and, once again, the opposing team did their job.”

The things the Sixers were supposed to go was rebound, guard the ball better and fight through screens.

“I don’t think we did that well tonight,” Butler said.

The Sixers were doomed by six turnovers and making just three of 14 shots (21.4 percent) -- including going 1-of-6 on three-pointers -- in the fourth quarter. And Lopez had three huge offensive rebounds in the quarter.

“This is a tough loss for us,” said Tobias Harris, who finished with 13 points on 5-for-13 shooting. “This is a bad loss for us. Tough loss, but we gotta put it behind us and grow from it, and group.”

Butler, who started his career as a Bull, was having a pleasant experience here before started to unravel.

The Sixers guard chatted with Bulls coach Jim Boylen, who had been a Chicago assistant coach during his tenure in the Windy City. Then he shook hands with folks while walking in the hallway before meeting the media. And Butler went on to remind the crowd of 19,927 why he had been one of the Bulls’ franchise players.

The 29-year-old had 22 points on 8-for-18 shooting to go with four assists and three steals. Ben Simmons added 18 points, 11 rebounds, 7 assists, 4 steals and 5 turnovers.

Lopez made a foul to give the Bulls a 106-105 lead with 17.1 seconds left. But Butler answered with a pair with 4.8 seconds left to put the Sixers up one (107-106). The Bulls called timeout afterward.

Following the timeout, LaVine received a dribble handoff and scored a layup between Simmons and Mike Scott with 1 second remaining. Butler was guarding LaVine on the play. But Scott was supposed to switch to him. The reserve power forward didn’t, which led to the Bull’s layup. LaVine was fouled by Scott on the made basket. The fifth-year veteran missed the foul shot.

“It was just miscommunication,” Scott said. “We should have switched. Give credit to them for fighting back.”

Butler said the final defensive play was on him. He knew what LaVine was going to do. As a result, Butler thinks he should have vetoed the defensive assignment and fought through the screen.

The Bulls (19-47) traded Butler and Justin Patton to the Minnesota Timberwolves for LaVine, Kris Dunn, and Lauri Markkanen on the night of the 2017 NBA draft. Wednesday marked Butler’s second game back in Chicago, and first since forcing a trade out of Minnesota in November.

“It’s not nearly as [bleeping] cold,” Butler said of being happier in Philly than in Minnesota. "I think that’s the reason. ... But there’s a lot of things that go into it. I know the guys that I’m around on a daily basis, not my teammates, they really enjoy Philly, too. I think their opinions mean a lot to me.”

Butler added that the Sixers have a great group of guys in the locker room, behind the scenes, public relations and coaching staff to ticket sales.

“Everybody,” he said. “They are all smiles. They are all happy. So that makes it a lot easier to be here.”

In addition to saying he’s happy in Philadelphia, Butler said he’s confident the Sixers can compete for a championship this season.

“We just have to stay healthy, play well," Butler said. "I think a lot of this has luck involved as well when it comes to the seeding and if other teams are healthy ... But I think we are going to be OK. We are going to play some good basketball.”

But Butler has also been paying a lot of attention to the Bulls, calling them fun to watch.

“They got Jim Boylen now,” he said of the former assistant who took over head-coaching duties when Fred Hoiberg was fired after a 5-19 start. “He’s a guy that I talked to a lot whenever I was here. He had to deal with me a lot of the time. I learned a lot from him. I learned a lot about me.”

The two chatted a little two hours before Wednesday’s game.

“I miss the people around here, man, who I started my career off with,” Butler said.

Amir Johnson got his second consecutive start at center and fourth of the season. Jonah Bolden returned to action after missing Tuesday night’s 114-106 victory over the Orlando Magic at the Well Fargo Center because of sinusitis.

The rookie was a welcome addition with two-time All-Star center Joel Embiid and backup Boban Marjanovic still sidelined. Embiid missed his seventh consecutive game because of tendinitis in his left knee. And this marked the fourth consecutive game that Marjanovic has missed with a bone bruise and mild sprain in his right knee.

Coach Brett Brown said there is no decision on Embiid’s status for Friday’s game at the Houston Rockets.

“Bottom line is what you know I would say is we’ve come this far in relation to rest after the All-Star break," he said,"that personally, I’m at a stage if it requires more time then so be it. The end game is obvious.

“It’s trying to deliver him to the playoff healthy.”

The coach admitted he realizes they don’t have an abundance of time to get him ready.

“But that is insignificant compared to what is most important,” Brown said. “That is getting him healthy, getting his spirit right and getting him healthy.”

But this night was all about Butler.

This is the place where developed into one of the league’s top players. Butler was selected in the 30th and final pick of the 2011 NBA draft. He became a full-time starter in the final 20 games of his second season and garnered his first of four consecutive NBA All-Star selections by his fourth season. His final All-Star selection came last season as a member of the Timberwolves.

Butler said he has many memories of playing in the United Center.

“From the great games I had here to the terrible ones I had here,” he said, “to the best competition that comes in here to playing with the players I played with. This is still home. I love it here. I do. I think everybody knows that.

“I’ll be back a lot during the summer.”

Butler was aggressive at the start of the game, scoring six of the Sixers’ first 12 points on 3-for-3 shooting. At that time, Philly had an eight-point advantage. However, he was subbed out of the contest with 6 minutes, 29 seconds in the first quarter. The Sixers were trailing 23-21 when Butler re-entered the game at 3:05 mark of the quarter.

He went on to miss a jumper to finish the quarter, shooting 3-for-4. He added six more points on 3-for-5 shooting in the second quarter.

His 12 first-half points were 10 more than he had through two quarters on Tuesday. He missed his lone first-half shoot attempt against the Magic. But Butler isn’t concerned about chasing stats or being the Sixers’ go-to guy.

“I don’t worry about who the No. 1, 2, 3 guy is,” he said. "Whenever you win, everybody is perfectly fine. I don’t need to be this guy or that number. I’m just here to help my team win to the best of their ability.

“When my number is called upon, whether it’s the No. 1 guy or No. 6, I got to come through and produce.”