Player Report Cards: Bulls booed off the floor in a lackadaisical 100-88 loss

Jan 27, 2017; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Bulls guard Rajon Rondo (left) and forward Jimmy Butler (center) and head coach Fred Hoiberg (right) talk during the second half against the Miami Heat at the United Center. Miami won 100-88. Mandatory Credit: Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports
By Stephen Noh
Jan 28, 2017

Jimmy Butler made a bold prediction after the Bulls’ morning shootaround on Friday.

“I think we get better from this,” Butler responded when asked how the Bulls would react to recent drama surrounding the team.

That definitely didn’t happen. Butler and the Bulls were booed off the court after a poor effort and Butler’s worst game of the season, losing to the Miami heat 100-88 and falling to 23-25 on the year.

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Coach Fred Hoiberg elected to take Butler and Dwyane Wade out of the starting lineup as a disciplinary move for their comments ripping teammates after Wednesday’s loss to the Atlanta Hawks. Doug McDermott and Paul Zipser got the start in their place, but Hoiberg’s lineup changes haven’t been able to spur the Bulls to better play and Friday night was no exception.

The Bulls came out flat and never really recovered. The Heat scored 22 fast break points, Goran Dragic had 26 points off 20 shots to go along with 11 assists, and the Bulls couldn’t score enough to overcome their porous defense.

Our grades for the game:

Jerian Grant

Grade: D+

Statistics: 14 minutes, 6 points (2-of-5 shooting), 2 assists, 3 turnovers

Grant got the start in Hoiberg’s ever-changing rotation, but Rajon Rondo outplayed him and finished out the game. Grant couldn’t stay in front of Dragic and let him break through the Bulls’ defense to get the Heat great looks at the basket all night.

Hoiberg has said in the past that he likes Grant playing alongside Butler for spacing, but Grant was 0-of-2 on his 3-pointers and he hasn’t been much of a threat to shoot all season.

Doug McDermott

Grade: B-

Statistics: 24 minutes, 9 points (3-of-6 shooting, 1-of-2 on 3-pointers), 5 rebounds, 2 turnovers

McDermott started in place of Wade. He had two early passes that fell into the backcourt or out of bounds for turnovers, but he calmed down a bit after that. He connected with Rondo on a 3-pointer, and those two continue to have good chemistry.

Paul Zipser

Grade: B

Statistics: 27 minutes, 14 points (5-of-11 shooting, 1-of-4 on 3-pointers), 5 rebounds

Zipser got the starting nod over Butler and played very well in the first half, where he led the Bulls with 12 points. Unfortunately, he cooled down considerably and was invisible in the second half.

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Taj Gibson

Grade: A-

Statistics: 26 minutes, 14 points (4-of-6 shooting), 5 rebounds, 4 blocks

Gibson does not deserve to be in this mess of a team. He’s been consistent all year and one of the few players that always gives his all.

The Bulls were feeding Gibson inside early and he was using his craft and power to finish when he got deep positioning. Unfortunately, the team went away from him in the second half, where he had only one shot attempt. He was also a force on defense, recording four blocks.

Robin Lopez

Grade: B+

Statistics: 18 minutes, 7 points (3-of-6 shooting), 2 rebounds

Lopez played solid defense and had a good night shooting the ball. He’s shown off good footwork in the post, and he had a slow-motion dream shake for a basket in the third quarter.

He didn’t get a ton of minutes because Cristiano Felicio was playing well and was a better option to contain the Heat’s fast break attack.

Rajon Rondo

Grade: A-

Statistics: 32 minutes, 13 points (6-of-8 shooting), 7 assists, 7 rebounds, 3 steals, 3 turnovers

I’ve been very hard on Rondo, but he deserves praise for his performance on Saturday. He gave good effort on defense, and he forced Heat guard Dion Waiters into an eight-second violation in the third quarter with his pressure.

Rondo’s shot is always adventurous, but he was hitting them. He had a speed layup towards the end of the third quarter, hit on his only 3-point attempt, and made a very efficient 6-of-8 shots for the game including 5-of-6 in the second half.

Rondo’s gotten really good at finding players in the corners for 3-pointers, and he had another impressive pass along the baseline to find McDermott for a highlight assist.


Dwyane Wade

Grade: F

Statistics: 28 minutes, 15 points (6-of-17 shooting), 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 4 turnovers

Wade called out his teammates for their poor shooting and effort on Wednesday’s loss to the Hawks, and he didn’t enter the game until the 6-minute, 23-second mark of the first quarter as punishment (although he and Butler both started the second half).

He had a miserable game on offense, shooting just 6-of-17 and committing four turnovers. His defensive effort was terrible, especially in transition. He walked back on defense numerous times, allowing the Heat to get easy baskets.

Jimmy Butler

Grade: F

Statistics: 33 minutes, 3 points (1-of-13 shooting), 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 turnovers

Butler came off the bench for the first time since March 23, 2013 (as researched by Cody Westerlund) as punishment for his critical comments after Wednesday’s loss. He entered with 6:53 left in the first quarter and did not play well.

Butler got into foul trouble early in the second quarter, inexplicably pulling himself from the game.


His play in the game was just as erratic as his behavior. He shot just 1-of-13 and only got to the free throw line twice, hitting on one of his attempts. It was easily the worst game of the season for him.

Nikola Mirotic

Grade: D

Statistics: 15 minutes, 1 point (0-of-2 shooting), 5 rebounds, 2 blocks

Mirotic played well defensively but was invisible on offense. He drew a shooting foul and hit 1-of-2 free throws and missed two 3-point attempts. The team needs more from him on offense.

Cristiano Felicio

Grade: B+

Statistics: 23 minutes, 6 points (3-of-5 shooting), 4 rebounds, 2 blocks

Felicio was a force on defense, recording two monstrous highlight dunks.

He also had a vicious alley-oop dunk and a good putback.

Felicio played most of the fourth quarter and has earned the confidence of his coach. He had a modest stat line, but he really showed off his athleticism on some impact plays.

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