Limp Bulls lose match and Jimmy Butler

Feb 6, 2016 - 6:52 AM Australian centre Cameron Bairstow got his first start of the NBA season and second of his career for Chicago, but it was another painful night in Denver for the Bulls.

Not only did the Bulls get outscored 42-21 in the final term to lose 115-110, their ninth straight loss, but star guard Jimmy Butler was wheeled off the court with a sprained left knee.

Butler went into the game with knee soreness and it only got worse from there.

He was lighting up the court in the first half and had 18 points when a hard foul from Joffrey Lauvergne saw him crumple to the ground with just over a minute remaining in the second term.

He was tended to by medical personnel before getting to his feet and gingerly making his way to the free-throw line, where he made one of the two foul shots.

Butler was then wheeled into the locker room for further examination, with an announcement on how much time he may miss expected on Saturday.

The injury is just the latest to hit the Bulls who went into the game missing big men Pau Gasol (hand) and Joakim Noah (shoulder), which led to the start for Bairstow.

The Aussie may have started but he played just 10 minutes to score four points and pull down four rebounds, while opposing centre Nikola Jokic hauled down 12 rebounds and tipped in 14 points before fouling out.

In Dallas, Patty Mills came off the bench to score 16 points as the Spurs easily beat the Mavericks 116-90.

Mills was once again in good shooting form, hit six of eight from the field and nailed both his three-point attempts in 15 minutes of court time.

And in Cleveland the Boston Celtics shocked the Cleveland Cavaliers 104-103.

Cleveland star LeBron James was far from happy about the way the match ended.

"It's about how we lost," James said.

"It hurts and it's been a while since I felt like this.

"The only thing that could beat us was a three and unfortunately that happened.

"We relaxed just a little bit and he shouldn't have been that open to get a shot off like that."

The loss was Cleveland's second straight and coincides with their second straight game without Aussie guard Matthew Dellavedova, who is missing in action due to a hamstring injury.

Source: AAP