Bulls Beat Pelicans, NBA Roundup

Bothered by a sore knee, Jimmy Butler could have checked out of the Chicago Bulls' final road game any time he wanted. Instead, he remained all in.

Butler scored 12 of his 23 points in the last six minutes and the short-handed Bulls beat the injury-riddled New Orleans Pelicans 121-116 on Monday night in a matchup of two teams eliminated from the playoffs.

"I don't want anyone to think I'm quitting on my team," Butler said. "I love this game and I'm fortunate to play every day. I don't care if we're in the playoffs or out of the playoffs. I don't like to lose, period. I play to win."

Nikola Mirotic added 20 points and Cristiano Felicio matched his career high with 16 for the Bulls. Butler was the only regular in the starting lineup, taking over for Derrick Rose at point guard. Rose and Pau Gasol sat after Chicago was eliminated when Indiana won Sunday.

"Jimmy wanting to be out there says a lot," Chicago coach Fred Hoiberg said. "It shows he wants to be the leader of this club. He was giving our guys the ball and competing all the way to the finish line."

After missing the team flight, Butler made it to New Orleans on his own and opted to play despite having missed 15 games in February and March with a left knee issue.

"If coach had been like, Jimmy, you've got to play 48 minutes tonight, I would have done it," Butler said. "I almost didn't want to come off the floor when he asked me to. I'm here to play."

Monday, April 11 Scoreboard
    
Cleveland 109, Atlanta 94
    
Orlando 107, Milwaukee 98

Charlotte 114, Boston 100

Washington 120, Brooklyn 111

Houston 129, Minnesota 105

Chicago 121, New Orleans 116
    
Oklahoma City 112, Los Angeles Lakers 79

Dallas 101, Utah 92

Sacramento 105, Phoenix 101

Tuesday, April 12 Schedule (All Times  Central)

New York at Indiana, 5 p.m.

Miami at Detroit, 5:30 p.m.

Philadelphia at Toronto, 5:30 p.m.

Oklahoma City at San Antonio, 6 p.m.

Memphis at Los Angeles, 8:30 p.m.