BAE Index, 4/21/2015: Jimmy Butler’s New World Order

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Jimmy Butler’s New World Order

In the Chricago Bulls’ Game 2 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks, Jimmy Butler was the catalyst.With players on both teams struggling to score, Butler put his squad and the game on his back, coming alive in the 2nd half.  He ended with a career playoff-high of 31 points on 10-19 shooting, getting buckets on any Bucks player that dared to try and guard him.

Can’t we all just get along?

In the Bulls’ win over the Bucks, both teams got their shots in on each other. In the 2nd quarter, John Henson blasted Aaron Brooks, prompting both teams to enter a shoving match at midcourt, which ended with Jimmy Butler and OJ Mayo needing to be separated. On that incident alone, 4 technical fouls were assessed. In the 4th quarter, Zaza Pachulia picked up 2 technicals (and therefore, and ejection) in under a minute, first elbowing Nikola Mirotic in the head on a rebound attempt, and then bear-hugging and swatting at Mirotic during a loose-ball scrum. All this happened in only Game 2. We may be in for a lot of chippiness as this series plays out.

Dante Cunningham denies Marresse Speights

Golden State may have gotten a Game 2 win over the New Orleans, but the Pelicans fought hard to the end. They worked their tails off all game, and stayed on pace with the league’s best team, in the league’s loudest arena, until the least few minutes. This transition rejection by Dante Cunningham shows just the kind of grit and never-say-die attitude the Pelicans played with.

Steph Curry is a human hoops mixtape

Ever watch one of those And 1 mixtapes and wish you could see some zany moves like that in the league? Well, Steph Curry is probably the closest we’ve seen to that in recent years. It’s not just his mini-dribbling exhibitions that make him so entertaining, but his ambition and creativity when dishing the rock. Sure, sometimes it leads to turnovers. But when it leads to something like this, it makes every error worth it.