Khris Middleton has been great since returning to Milwaukee Bucks
By Jordan Foote
Since returning from a thigh contusion, the Milwaukee Bucks’ second-best player has been nothing short of brilliant on the court.
The Milwaukee Bucks are the hottest team in the NBA. Forward Khris Middleton has been a large reason why as of late.
Riding a winning streak that has now reached a whopping 16 games, seven of those contests came with Middleton on the sidelines. As the Robin to Giannis Antetokounmpo‘s Batman watched from the bench with a thigh contusion, the team succeeded without him. Now that he’s back, Milwaukee hasn’t missed a beat — and Middleton has been terrific.
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In his eight games since returning on Nov. 27, Middleton is averaging 17.1 points, 5.8 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game. On top of that, he’s doing so on 52.3 percent shooting from the field and a 39.4 percent efficiency rate from beyond the arc.
Not only he doing his usual job in providing a decent amount of points every night, but he’s going about it in quite an efficient manner. He’s defending at a high level as well, but that’s expected from the All-Star.
Middleton’s stat line through the team’s first 10 games (and before his injury) certainly wasn’t poor. Scoring 18.5 points per game on 46.8 percent from the field and 39.3 percent from deep to go with 5.7 rebounds and 2.9 assists per contest, his impact was still felt.
With that said, the fact that he’s been able to maintain his scoring average (or keep it darn close) while converting on over 50 percent of his shots is astounding.
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Middleton is a career 45.3 percent shooter. While that’s not bad, it doesn’t hold a candle to what he’s been able to accomplish over the past few weeks. For wings, knocking down half of your shots attempted is a benchmark of upper echelon efficiency. Middleton is among the cream of the crop in that regard as of now.
This is a very positive sign for a Bucks team that currently holds the best record in the Eastern Conference. Per NBA.com, Mike Budenholzer’s squad is the league’s second-best offensive team — and the best in the league on the defensive end.
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Getting off to a torrid start despite multiple injuries and inconsistency from players like Brook Lopez, Eric Bledsoe and others has been a hugely positive sign.
Subtle improvements like this often go unnoticed in the NBA. Now that the regular season is in full swing, there are many more entertaining story lines to learn more about. The Bucks appear to be withstanding some losses in production fairly well, but much of that credit goes to the play of those pulling their weight.
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As the rest of the season unfolds for the Milwaukee Bucks, Middleton maintaining this level of play would be a welcomed sight.