CHICAGO: Jimmy Butler scored a playoff career high of 31 points as the Chicago Bulls took a 2-0 first round playoff series lead with a 91-82 win over the Milwaukee Bucks on Monday.
Butler scored 14 of his game high points in the fourth quarter for the Bulls, who maintained home court advantage in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference series.
"So far so good," Bulls Pau Gasol said. "We just played two games and won both of them. Rebounding is a key factor, especially this time of year. We have to keep working on it."
Bulls guard Derrick Rose added 15 points and nine assists after being held scoreless in the first half.
Rose added nine assists and seven rebounds. Gasol had 11 points, 16 rebounds and four blocks, and Joakim Noah tallied a game-high 19 rebounds for the Bulls, who have won eight of the last nine against their Central Division rival.
"A lot of my scoring goes to (my teammates) for drawing so much attention," Butler said.
In the night contest, Klay Thompson scored 12 of Golden State's final 16 points to carry the Warriors past the New Orleans Pelicans in game two of their Western Conference series.
Guard Khris Middleton paced the Milwaukee attack with 22 points. Guard Michael Carter-Williams added 12 points for the Bucks, who were outscored 20-8 down the stretch.
"We're going to fight to get this series back to even and protect our home court," Middleton said of the series switching to Milwaukee's arena.
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