Derrick Rose had 25 points and five assists, Butler added 20 points and six helpers and the Bulls held off the Cleveland Cavaliers 99-92 on Monday in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series.
After blowing a 16-point lead in the first half, Chicago used a 15-0 run in the third quarter to build another healthy cushion.
Cleveland charged back and trimmed the deficit to two in the fourth quarter with 5:21 left. Butler, though, split a pair of free throws and nailed a 3- pointer before Pau Gasol's jumper gave the Bulls a 94-86 lead with 3:26 to go.
The Cavs never got closer than four the rest of the way. Butler scored seven of Chicago's last 11 points.
Gasol netted 15 of his 21 points in the second half to go with 10 rebounds and Mike Dunleavy supplied 14 points and seven boards for third-seeded Chicago, which was 10-of-18 from beyond the arc.
Game 2 is Wednesday in Cleveland.
NBA Playoffs Scoreboard
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LA Clippers 117, Houston 101
>>Curry Named NBA MVP
Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry has been selected as the NBA's Most Valuable Player.
Curry became the second Warrior to win the award and first since the club moved to the west coast in 1962. Wilt Chamberlain was honored for the 1959-60 season when the franchise was based in Philadelphia.
The 27-year-old sharpshooter led the Warriors to a franchise-record 67 wins this season and the club's first division title since the 1975-76 campaign. He averaged 23.8 points, 7.7. assists and 4.3 rebounds in 80 games
Curry received 100 first-place votes from a panel of 129 sportswriters and broadcasters, as well as one NBA.com fan vote, for a total of 1,198 points to outdistance Houston's James Harden for the award.
Harden picked up 25 first-place votes and 936 points to finish second in the balloting, well ahead of Cleveland's LeBron James. The four-time MVP earned the other five first-place votes and 552 points.
Curry was the sixth-leading scorer in the NBA and led the league in 3-point field goals for a third consecutive season, hitting 286 from beyond the arc to break his own NBA record for a single season. He also ranked third in 3-point percentage, converting at 44.3 percent and led the league in free throw shooting at 91.4 percent.
Oklahoma City's Russell Westbrook was fourth in the voting, followed by Anthony Davis of New Orleans and Chris Paul of the Los Angeles Clippers.
