Bulls' Mirotic returns vs. Rockets

After playing severely shorthanded for the past several weeks, the Chicago Bulls got healthy all at once.

With All-Star swingman Jimmy Butler returning from a knee sprain, second-year forward Nikola Mirotic also suited up Saturday night against the Houston Rockets.

Mirotic sat out the previous 16 games after undergoing an appendectomy in late January, followed by a second procedure to remove a hematoma. He returned about a week ahead of his projected timeline.

Over the course of his six-week recovery, Mirotic lost 15 pounds - the result of being on a liquid diet in the aftermath of the follow-up surgery. The backsliding Bulls went 5-11 without him, though much of that can be attributed to Butler's concurrent absence.

In 44 games before going under the knife, Mirotic was mired in a bit of a sophomore slump. He averaged 10.6 points and 5.9 rebounds, while shooting 38.6 percent from the field and 35.4 percent from 3-point range, with his efficiency metrics down virtually across the board from his rookie season.

Losers of four straight, the Bulls have fallen out of the Eastern Conference playoff picture, sitting a half-game back of the eighth-place Detroit Pistons.