Milwaukee Bucks Khris Middleton Photo by Alex Goodlett/Getty Images
In his second All-Star season, Milwaukee Bucks wing Khris Middleton proved why he’s one of the best No. 2s in the entire NBA.
Behind every great man is a sidekick who’ll do everything they can to elevate their companion. Of course, Batman has Robin, Han Solo has Chewbacca and the Milwaukee Bucks’ reigning MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo has Khris Middleton.
Even after earning his second All-Star appearance in as many years, Middleton is somewhat of an unknown commodity around the NBA. The casual fan will know him as “that dude who plays off of Giannis,” but the true hoops heads know Middleton as one of the league’s most efficient three-level scorers in basketball whose unselfish play style and reserved demeanor make him the perfect fit for head coach Mike Budenholzer’s system.
Middleton’s 61.9 percent true shooting is tied with All-NBA point guard Damian Lillard for the highest of any player with at least 800 shots this year. He has the highest individual offensive rating of any Bucks player (113.4) on the 6th best offense in the league.
During his eight seasons as a pro, Middleton has been renowned for his 3-point shooting and profound ability to create space on jumpers from all around the floor. He’s not the greatest athlete or the most powerful body down low, but Middleton is at least good at almost everything on the court.
He’s posting career-high averages in both scoring and rebounding averages while shooting with the best efficiency he’s had thus far. For that, he’s the unquestioned second-star to the league’s MVP and will continue to build his legacy as the season resumes; but before that, let’s celebrate his best games from the season thus far.
Milwaukee Bucks’</a> reigning MVP <a href=https://hoopshabit.com/2020/06/30/milwaukee-bucks-khris-middleton-3-best/"https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/a/antetgi01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-%22 target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener" ref="nofollow">Giannis Antetokounmpo</a> has <a href=https://hoopshabit.com/2020/06/30/milwaukee-bucks-khris-middleton-3-best/"https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/m/middlkh01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-%22 target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener" ref="nofollow">Khris Middleton</a>.</p>
<p>Even after earning his second All-Star appearance in as many years, Middleton is somewhat of an unknown commodity around the NBA. The casual fan will know him as “that dude who plays off of Giannis,” but the true hoops heads know Middleton as one of the league’s most efficient three-level scorers in basketball whose unselfish play style and reserved demeanor make him the perfect fit for head coach Mike Budenholzer’s system.</p>
<p>Middleton’s 61.9 percent true shooting is tied with All-NBA point guard Damian Lillard for the highest of any player with at least 800 shots this year. He has the highest individual offensive rating of any Bucks player (113.4) on the 6th best offense in the league.</p>
<p>During his eight seasons as a pro, Middleton has been renowned for his 3-point shooting and profound ability to create space on jumpers from all around the floor. He’s not the greatest athlete or the most powerful body down low, but Middleton is at least good at almost everything on the court.</p>
<p>He’s posting career-high averages in both scoring and rebounding averages while shooting with the best efficiency he’s had thus far. For that, he’s the unquestioned second-star to the league’s MVP and will continue to build his legacy as the season resumes; but before that, let’s celebrate his best games from the season thus far.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#222423" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2020/06/30/milwaukee-bucks-khris-middleton-3-best/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Picking up the MVP’s slack in Sacramento </a>
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<h2>3. January 10, 2020 – Middleton leads the Milwaukee Bucks to victory in a slow night for Giannis</h2>
<p>Part of being a great No. 2 is knowing when you need to step up for the top dog and on January 10, Middleton proved that he can carry the workload when Giannis has an off night. The 6-foot-7 forward used his veteran savvy by forcing switches off of screens and manipulating defenders into fouls.</p>
<p>Early in the game, he was guarded by veteran small forward Trevor Ariza, who was coerced into foul trouble early, forcing Kings coach Luke Walton to make an adjustment. Later in the game, once it was clear that Khris had the hot hand, he drew the coverage of third-year point guard De’Aaron Fox — A respected defender in his own right. Still, Middleton took advantage of his four-inch height advantage in that matchup, drawing fouls on Fox and using his fancy footwork to create space to take his shots.</p>
<p>Despite foul trouble from Giannis and a poor 3-point shooting night from his teammates, Middleton turned in one of his most efficient games of the year. He finished with 27 points, 11 boards, four assists and two steals in just under 29 minutes. It only took him 12 shots including nine makes and 8 makes on 11 shots from the charity stripe.</p>
<p>Antetokounmpo finished -8, the worst Plus/Minus on the team, while Middleton ended up +12 with the highest usage rate on the team besides Thanasis Antetokounmpo, who played two minutes and 40 seconds in garbage time. Middleton had flashier games with higher scoring totals and statistical outputs, but the fact that he led the team on one of the few occasions when Giannis couldn’t get it going is telling of his importance to Milwaukee’s title hopes.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#222423" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2020/06/30/milwaukee-bucks-khris-middleton-3-best/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> 40 points and a dagger in overtime </a>
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<h2>2. February 24, 2020 – When the Milwaukee Bucks really needed him, Middleton showed up in the Nation’s Capital.</h2>
<p>Players like Middleton fly under the radar en-route to their best statistical outputs. For someone who’s known for his high-IQ shot selection, Middleton had a few rough moments in this game and made just two of his eight shots from deep. However, the veteran wing managed to put together an outstanding 40-point, 5-rebound, 5-assist stat line with three steals to match.</p>
<p>Just as he did in that game against the Kings, Giannis found himself in foul trouble on the road in Washington D.C. The Greek Freak logged just 24 minutes and fouled out late in the game, finishing with 22 points, 14 boards and an uncharacteristic eight turnovers. This gave way for Middleton to take over in the fourth quarter and overtime.</p>
<p>After struggling to connect on his shots later in regulation, Middleton capped off the night by scoring the Milwaukee Bucks’ final nine points including a pull-up triple with 30.2 seconds remaining in overtime to solidify the win. In addition to putting on a scoring clinic with his second game over 40 points on the season, Middleton stepped up when the team needed him the most.</p>
<p>Leadership comes in many different forms. Some guys speak up and assert their presence while others let it show in moments of weakness. Milwaukee lost the turnover battle to the worst defensive team in basketball 21-17 in this one and committed 28 fouls. They finished with fewer steals and assists than Washington while allowing 15 3-pointers at 42.9 percent.</p>
<p>This was a tough showing for the best team in basketball, but the Bucks got bailed out by Middleton’s great showing. It was a statement game that said “Even in the face of adversity, I’m not going to let my team down.” And for that, it was Middleton’s second-best game of the season.</p>
<p>His best, however, was about a month earlier against the same opponent.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#222423" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2020/06/30/milwaukee-bucks-khris-middleton-3-best/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> The single best game of Middleton's career </a>
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<h2>1. January 28, 2020 – Middleton explodes for a 51-point double-double.</h2>
<p>With the NBA world reeling after the untimely passing of <a href=https://hoopshabit.com/2020/06/30/milwaukee-bucks-khris-middleton-3-best/"https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/b/bryanko01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-%22 target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener" ref="nofollow">Kobe Bryant</a>, 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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<div class="embed ">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Kobe Bryant once scored 50+ points in 4 games in an 8-day span. Four players just did it in this past week.</p>
<p>Damian Lillard 50 on Sunday<br />Eric Gordon 50 on Monday<br />Khris Middleton 51 on Tuesday<br />Kyrie Irving 54 tonight</p>
<p>Mamba forever. <a href=https://hoopshabit.com/2020/06/30/milwaukee-bucks-khris-middleton-3-best/"https://t.co/qCAzdsKjzE">pic.twitter.com/qCAzdsKjzE
<p>— StatMuse (@statmuse) <a href=https://hoopshabit.com/2020/06/30/milwaukee-bucks-khris-middleton-3-best/"https://twitter.com/statmuse/status/1223438524680044544?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%22>February 1, 2020</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src=https://hoopshabit.com/2020/06/30/milwaukee-bucks-khris-middleton-3-best/"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>This was certainly the best game of his career thus far, but it’s easy to forget that he’s just 28.</p>
<p>There’s plenty of gas left in the tank, so we may not have seen the best of Khris Middleton just yet.</p>
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