Bulls’ Butler heads home from road trip with (only) strained knee

Jimmy Butler went down the lane and was bumped on the way up and seemed to have fallen awkwardly on his left leg, the same leg that caused him to miss Chicago’s win over the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday.

The Chicago Bulls have been holding their breath since Friday night when star forward Jimmy Butler was carted off the floor during the team’s game against the Denver Nuggets on the road.

Now the question of “did he come back too soon?” will enter into the minds of many, but as everyone knows, Butler is a competitive junkie and will force himself on the floor even when he shouldn’t.

Butler was able to shoot his free throws, but had to be carried over to a wheelchair which brought him to the lockerroom. He’s been the Bulls’ best player in a year of transition under Fred Hoiberg and there was a fear that he could be seriously injured. This may hurt his chance to play in the All-Star Game.

After almost burying themselves with a flat third quarter, the Denver Nuggets made up for it with a big fourth quarter to stun the Chicago Bulls. In addition to overcoming the deficit, the Nuggets manged to hold Chicago to just two points in the final 1:41 of the game.

“We did some really good things to get that lead”, said Hoiberg.

“He said he heard something pop”, Rose said. “We’ve been down in a lot of games, especially in the first half, but we always battle back”. Gallinari gave the Nuggets their first second half lead with 51.2 seconds left, Rose missed again and Denver just piled it on with more free throws in the last minute.

The game was briefly delayed in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter when the computer tracking the score failed to include a basket for Chicago. They fixed it and we moved on.

CSNChicago.com initially reported late Friday night that it was a hyperextension and that Butler wouldn’t miss significant time, as Butler’s headed back to Chicago for further examination and will miss Monday’s game in Charlotte.

Bulls staff later revealed that he had sprained his left knee, and would go for scans in the morning.

Nuggets: Visit the New York Knicks on Sunday.