Reward? Hardly. Respect, most definitely.

Leonard and Butler are self-made successes, a couple of the NBA's most impressive and diligent two-way players and shining examples for the young guys on their teams' rosters such as Kyle Anderson and Tony Snell. They came into the league as sleepers, convinced their coaches with every successful step they took to throw more at them and, for 40 of the 48 minutes Monday night at United Center, locked into a tenacious duel at both ends of the floor.

When it was over, Butler's edge in Chicago's 92-89 victory was as thin as Leonard's missed 3-pointer from the right wing with 4.9 seconds left. The Spurs' young wing was tremendous, scoring 25 points with eight rebounds. He logged a plus-14, which means San Antonio was minus-17 in the eight minutes Leonard rested.

Butler was on the opposite end, going minus-11 while scoring 14 points on 5-for-9 shooting. Playing for 10 days on a sore heel he'd been reticent to blame, the Bulls guard/forward got to the line a below-average four times but sank two free throws late for Chicago's final points.

Both players managed a few highlight plays -- Leonard knocking the ball off Butler out of bounds, Butler throwing an alley-oop for Pau Gasol, Leonard getting behind Butler for a baseline dunk -- but at the end, it was Butler's static-cling contesting of Leonard's last shot that sealed the outcome (and Derrick Roserecovering to get a piece of Tony Parker's final attempt).

"I just couldn't get a shot up," Leonard said afterward.

"Stayed down, didn't go for the pump fake, he missed the shot," Butler said. "I knew they were going to him, I didn't know where."