Milwaukee Bucks: Khris Middleton’s three best games of the season so far

1. January 28, 2020 – Middleton explodes for a 51-point double-double.

With the NBA world reeling after the untimely passing of Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna and seven others, Middleton put up a stat line that’d make the Mamba proud. The Milwaukee Bucks entered the game against the Washington Wizards in the midst of a major run by guard Bradley Beal, who hung 46 points on them in the contest.

Still, with the reigning MVP sidelined in the wake of an idol’s death, Middleton exploded for a career-high 51 points and set an NBA record with his efficiency.

The soon-to-be All-Star hit his first seven 3-pointers and made all 12 of his shots from the charity stripe to become the first player in league history to drop 50 while hitting 70 percent of his triples and 100 percent of his free throws. On top of that, Middleton managed a double-double with 10 boards and assist on six baskets with just two turnovers. His 81.5 percent true shooting is uncanny for any player, let alone one who took 16 field goal attempts in the contest.

In the heat of the moment, Middleton drove the ball up the court and dribbled behind the back as if to drive towards the rim. Instead, he stopped on a dime, pivoting his left foot forward before spotting up for a 3-point jumper. His defender, Troy Brown Jr., stumbled backward and plopped on his behind as Middleton drained the deep jumper. The hometown crowd erupted as D.J. Wilson and Dragan Bender jumped for joy around a bench that exploded with excitement.

Later in the evening with just 3:03 remaining in the fourth quarter, Middleton lost Rui Hachimura on his way to the rim and punctuated the win with a one-handed slam to reach the 51-point mark.

Through and through, Middleton dominated the Wizards in this one. Milwaukee is a well-oiled machine that functions to near perfection when Giannis is on the court, but when he’s not, they look for others to fill that gap. Though it was only the ninth-seeded Wizards, Middleton made a statement about his ability to lead this team during inconsequential regular-season games.

This was certainly the best game of his career thus far, but it’s easy to forget that he’s just 28.

There’s plenty of gas left in the tank, so we may not have seen the best of Khris Middleton just yet.