The Chicago Bulls are off to strong start this season, but superstar guard Jimmy Butler is not too impressed.

Butler called out his team for what he sees as lack of effort and consistency during their first 12 games of the season. The All-Star guard said that there were times that they were too complacent, allowing opponents to build leads before shifting to next gear.

"I just think that at times we take for granted how talented we are as a whole and with all the guys upon this roster," Butler told reporters on Monday via ESPN. "We think we can come out and just go through the motions at the beginning of a game, dig ourselves a little hole, and think we can just pick it up at any point and time."

The Bulls are playing well under first-year head coach Fred Hoiberg, who installed a brand new system to the team after being known as a defensive squad when they were still under coach Tom Thibodeau. Butler said that they are allowing their opponents to score too much, which makes him believe that they should exert more effort consistently.

"I don't think we bring that fight every single night," Butler said. "I think we're starting to get back to that, but early on we weren't the hardest-playing team every night. We always need to and have to be the hardest-playing team."

The Bulls responded to the challenge on Tuesday night, as they scored a 93-88 win against the Portland Trail Blazers at Moda Center in Portland, Oregon.

Butler led the Bulls with 22 points on top of four assists and four steals, Pau Gasol had a double-double with 12 points and 14 rebounds, while Nikola Mirotic posted 13 points and eight rebounds.

Derrick Rose, who missed their last two games with a sprained left ankle, had a strong comeback game, as he tallied 17 points to go along with six assists and four rebounds.

"I felt all right," Rose said after the game. "There were some plays where I had no lift on my shot as far as like driving the ball, but that's going to come the more I play and the stronger it gets."

Heading into the game, the Bulls allowed 99.4 points in their first 12 games, but were able to limit the Trail Blazers to just 88 points. Portland shot just 35.2 percent from the field and committed 14 turnovers.