Butler deserves most credit for Bulls' unlikely TNT win streak - which just finally ended
The Bulls' TNT win streak was mostly a relic of a more successful past, but it didn't officially come to a close until Thursday when the Bulls lost to Milwaukee.
The Bulls won 20 consecutive Thursday home games televised by TNT from 2013 to 2017. The streak was dormant for the past six years, since the rebuilding Bulls didn't merit many national TV appearances.
The streak is a credit mostly to Jimmy Butler, who played in 17 of the 20 games, missing three due to injury. He averaged 19.1 points, 5.8 rebounds and 4.4 assists during the streak.
To illustrate how long it lasted, Butler came off the bench and played just 21 minutes during the first victory, on Feb. 28, 2013, against Philadelphia.
His role was about to change dramatically. During the 2013 playoffs, coach Tom Thibodeau played Butler, then in his second NBA season, the full 48 minutes five times.
The Bulls' starting lineup in that first game of the TNT streak included Carlos Boozer, Luol Deng, Joakim Noah, Kirk Hinrich and Marco Belinelli.
The final victory of the streak was a win over Cleveland on Mar. 30, 2017. The Bulls' starters that night were Butler, Rajon Rondo, Nikola Mirotic, Robin Lopez and Paul Zipser.
While Butler was the most frequent participant, here's a list of other players who appeared in the most TNT streak wins: Taj Gibson 14, Mirotic 13, Noah 12, Hinrich 12, Tony Snell 12, Doug McDermott 10, Pau Gasol 9, Derrick Rose 8 and Mike Dunleavy Jr. 8.
The coaching wins were more balanced than you might think, with Thibodeau getting 11 and Fred Hoiberg 9.
It's appropriate the Bulls' streak didn't continue without Butler. When Bulls management decided they didn't want to give Butler a max contract and launched a rebuild by trading him to Minnesota in 2017, team success took a nose-dive and the franchise still hasn't recovered.
Bulls among Hall nominees:
The 12 finalists for induction in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame includes two former Bulls: Southwest Suburban native Dwyane Wade, and power forward Pau Gasol. Wade spent one season with the Bulls, Gasol two.
Other nominees are Spurs guard Tony Parker, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, longtime Purdue coach Gene Keady, Becky Hammon, Jennifer Azzi, Gene Bess, David Hixon, Gary Blair and Marian Washington.
Dosunmu scores 4 as Rising Star:
The Bulls' Ayo Dosunmu scored 4 points by going 2 for 3 from the floor in his Rising Stars game Friday night. He was on Team Deron, which lost to Team Pau 40-25 in the tournament that was part of All-Star festiviites.
Twitter: @McGrawDHSports