Bucks News: Doc Rivers Breaks Down Khris Middleton 'Minutes Crisis' vs Wizards

Matt Levine | 6 Hours Ago

Benny Sieu-Imagn Images

The Milwaukee Bucks took down the Washington Wizards on Saturday, earning another big victory. The team played this game without the services of both Damian Lillard and Giannis Antetokounmpo as they sat due to injury.

But Milwaukee had its other star in the lineup, forward Khris Middleton. Middleton has been a somewhat forgotten piece to this team this season as he just returned a few games ago from his own injury issues.

Middleton has only played in six games this season and it seems that the team is still trying to work him back into the mix. Bucks head coach Doc Rivers spoke after the game about the "minutes crisis" that was happening with Middleton at halftime.

“The best rhythm from Khris,” Rivers added after the game. “Still kept him under 25 (minutes), which was a miracle tonight. At halftime, I think we had used 13 minutes, and I went to (assistant coach) Dave (Joerger) and said, ‘We got a minutes crisis here.’

“But this was the most like Khris that we’ve seen. And on the defensive end, I thought this was the best that he moved. So, I’m sure for Khris’ confidence, a back-to-back — to be able to do that — was pretty big for him.”

Middleton played 24 minutes to help the Bucks take down the Wizards. The veteran scored 18 points, grabbed six rebounds, dished out eight assists, and swiped one steal.

It was the first back-to-back game for Middleton since he returned from injury, marking a big step forward. The veteran addressed this after the fact as well.

“Going through the course of rehab, coming back and playing and the way that I’ve been responding after games,” Middleton said, “I thought (Saturday) would be a great shot to see what a back-to-back felt like and hopefully move past that stage where I can’t play in back-to-backs anymore.

“I want to be out there as much as I can, and I thought tonight was a great step forward for that.”

For the Bucks to do anything of substance this season, they are going to need all their stars healthy and ready to go. But at least they can rely on the fact that Middleton is slowly rounding back into form.

This was a nice first step for the team and they got to see Middleton look more comfortable in game action.

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