Khris Middleton will be on the shelf again on Wednesday night when the Milwaukee Bucks take to the court to battle Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors. This will mark the three-time All-Star’s 12th consecutive game out as he continues to nurse a left ankle sprain.
Bucks head coach Doc Rivers spoke to reporters ahead of Wednesday’s tip-off, and unfortunately, there is still no clarity regarding Middleton’s return to action.
Milwaukee Bucks Coach Doc Rivers’ Update on Khris Middleton
It seems like Middleton has been progressing significantly of late. He has been ramping up his on-court activity but up until this point, he still hasn’t been able to participate in a full practice session.
When asked if a full run in practice is going to be a prerequisite for Middleton before he is cleared to play, Rivers provided a cryptic response:
“There’s probably no answer to that,” Rivers said, via Eric Nehm of The Athletic. “He’s been on the floor. We just haven’t had any live practice. I don’t know if any NBA team has a live practice as a result of the season from this point on. But we do a lot of 2-on-2, 3-on-3 stuff. He’s been able to do some of that, which is good.”
Rivers was then asked why Middleton was unable to participate in Wednesday morning’s shootaround. According to the tenured shot-caller, this was all part of his recovery plan:
“Yeah. We went really hard yesterday, so that was planned for him today, just to take a day off,” Coach Doc said.
If and when he returns, Middleton will likely be on some sort of minutes limit given how long he’s been out. This was the case for him to start the campaign as he recovered from offseason surgery, and Rivers has now hinted that this will likely be the case for the 32-year-old again once he’s cleared to play:
“Most likely,” Rivers said of Middleton’s potential minutes limit. “I don’t think it’s due to injury though. Before it was more about the knee and stuff like that. I think it’s more lungs.”
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