Positive things might be coming on the way for the Chicago Bulls who have been struggling to maintain their spot in the race for the final eight of the Eastern Conference as key players in the team have been sidelined due to injury.

Chicago's All-Star shooting guard Jimmy Butler, who has been sidelined for almost a month with a knee injury, is nearing a return to game action. There is a chance he will be on the hardcourt on Saturday when they play against the Houston Rockets, Bulls head coach Fred Hoiberg told reporters on Tuesday.

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According to The Score, the former Iowa State University coach had said on Monday that the 2015 NBA Most Improved Player of the Year is still "two-to-three weeks away from returning." Based on Hoiberg's timeline, Butler "appears to be ahead of schedule in his recovery."

Butler was dealing with a knee tendinitis at the beginning of January, but opted to continue action until the injury caught him off guard during a game on Feb. 5. He was taken off the court on a wheelchair with a strained knee.

Without their best player in the lineup, the Bulls have predictably struggled. The Chicago team has lost seven of their last 10 games.

Butler is averaging 22.4 points, 5.2 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 1.7 steal in 37.9 minutes in the 48 games he played for the Bulls this season. He is shooting 45.8 percent from the field, 33.1 percent from beyond the arc region and 82.7 percent accurate from the foul line.

The six-time NBA champion team is currently tied with three other ball squads contending for the final two playoff spot in the tight East. Derrick Rose, Nikola Mirotic and Joakim Noah are all out of the team's lineup due to injury issues.

TagsChicago Bulls, NBA, Jimmy Butler