"I'll say this: It's the best performance I've seen coaching" -Fred Hoiberg

Just when it looked as though the Toronto Raptors were on course to beat the Chicago Bulls for the first time in two years, Jimmy Butler ripped it away with a performance that broke a long-standing Michael Jordan record.

The Bulls visited Toronto on Sunday afternoon, having won the past six consecutive meetings with the Raptors, including one the previous week in Chicago. The Bulls were missing Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah, and at times trailed the Raptors by as much as 15. But Butler took the team on his shoulders, scoring 42 points – 40 of them in the second half to eclipse Jordan’s franchise record for points in a half – as Chicago beat Toronto in a nail-biter, 115-113.

Pau Gasol on his Bulls teammate performance Sunday

“It was an incredible performance … scoring 40 in a half isn’t something you see every day. He did it on both ends, which to me is more impressive. He wasn’t guarding players who were non-threats offensively; he was chasing around DeMar DeRozan and at times Kyle Lowry.”

Butler on his 40 points in the second half:

SOURCE: Globe And Mail