Jimmy Butler is shouldering some of the blame for the Chicago Bulls dropping Game 5 to the Milwaukee Bucks.
Despite the Bulls still owning the first-round series lead 3-2, the Chicago guard pointed to his lack of guarding as a key reason why his team has dropped two straight games, according to ESPN's Nick Friedell.
"I'm supposed to be the prime-time defensive guy, and I haven't been guarding a soul," admitted Butler. "I've been worried about offense too much, and I need to change that quickly or it's going to be my fault."
As for his focus on scoring, Butler only managed to sink a frustrating 5-of-21 from the field in Monday night's 94-88 loss, but helped his team with 20 points, 10 rebounds and six assists for the night. Butler wasn't alone in his poor shooting night. As a team, the Bulls shot 34.4 percent from the floor in the loss, knocking down just 31 of 90 shots.
On the offensive end, Butler is remaining cool and confident under the playoff fire, averaging 26.6 points, 6.2 rebounds and 3.6 assists in the series so far.
As undeterred as he's been with the ball, Butler has just as much belief that his Bulls will find a way to resolve their problems and clinch the series.
"I'm not concerned," said Butler. "We're confident. We're a good team. I think we're going to show it in the next game. We continue to say it and we haven't done it, but I'm confident that we will."
