Khris Middleton recently dropped a goose-egg performance in the Milwaukee Bucks’ 114-109 win over the Orlando Magic to advance to the NBA Cup semifinals last Tuesday. But instead of getting criticized, he was praised by his teammates.
The three-time NBA All-Star had zero points on 0-for-2 shooting from the field in 20 minutes of action. However, he had four rebounds, eight assists, and three steals to help make up for it.
“He understands the game, match-ups, he understands what’s supposed to be happening, he is always tracking what is happening in a game, you know,” Damian Lillard said about Middleton during the postgame press conference. “You can feel that out there, I’m sure everybody on the team can feel that, there’s not a numbers thing. I mean, you could feel him on the floor.”
“He’s a big organizer. He’s a big leader. He has a big-time voice that everyone respects. So when you play on the court with him, you can’t help but be organized. He came back at a great time to where now we can really trend in the right direction to see what works,” Bobby Portis added via The Athletic’s Eric Nehm.
Khris Middleton’s overall impact on the Milwaukee Bucks
The Milwaukee Bucks have won two of their last three games since Khris Middleton returned from a serious ankle injury last week.
According to The Athletic’s Eric Nehm, the Milwaukee Bucks are outscoring opponents by a whopping 19.2 points per 100 possessions in the 63 minutes Middleton has been on the floor since the team has an offensive rating of 134.9 (compared to the opponent’s defensive rating of 115.7).
The one-time NBA champion averages only 7.3 points, 3.0 rebounds, 6.3 assists, and 1.7 steals per game, but he’ll only get better from here as he regains his rhythm.
