Khris Middleton exits the game against the Phoenix Suns early after suffering a sprained ankle

The night ended early and not well for the veteran wingman.

© Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports

The Milwaukee Bucks will miss Khris Middleton for a while after the veteran wingman suffered an ankle sprain in the game against the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday. The injury occurred with six minutes left in the first when Middleton attempted a jumper over the long arms of Suns superstar Kevin Durant.

However, KD encroached on Middleton's landing spot, and the latter landed on the former's foot, crumpling to the floor while clutching his ankle afterward. Durant was assessed a flagrant foul one on that play. Middleton tried to play through the injury but exited at the 3:57 mark of the first and didn't return.

Khris Middleton lands on KD and tweaks his ankle, he’s down. pic.twitter.com/Lrh4vlIS0Q

— Follow GiannisArchive (@giannisarchive) February 7, 2024

X-rays were negative

Fortunately for the Bucks, X-rays done on Middleton came out negative. However, the All-Star two-guard headed out of the arena wearing a walking boot and used crutches to move around. After the game, Bucks coach Doc Rivers commented that not having Damian Lillard and Brook Lopez was one thing, but not having Khris was another.

"Just a tough blow," Rivers said after the Bucks suffered a 114-106 loss.

"Having him and Dame and Brook out takes a lot of the floor. I thought we fought, hung in there. You knew at some point, you just felt at some point we wouldn't have enough offense on the floor. And that's probably what happened. I thought defensively we were really good tonight."

While the x-rays were negative, Khris Middleton just walked out of the arena in a walking boot and crutches.

— Eric Nehm (@eric_nehm) February 7, 2024

Giannis believes Khris will be back better than ever

Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo did not let Middleton's injury dampen his spirits. In fact, he believes that Khris will come back even stronger.

"How many games to the All-Star break? Five. I've played without Khris for a whole season," Giannis Antetokounmpo said.

"Five games, it's OK. He's going to be fine. Five games, that probably means eight to 10 days, then he has the all-star break, then he has seven days. So he's going to have 15-17 days. Maybe he can take the first game; he has 20 days. We're going to be fine. He's going to be back, he's going to be healthy. He's going to be back to playing great basketball. We are there to support him, but he's going to be fine. I know Khris."

In eight minutes of action before his injury, Middleton scored six points, had three rebounds, one assist, and one steal. Khris had only missed one other game due to injury, which was for Achilles soreness on Nov. 26. The other games he's sat out were on back-to-backs.

The short-handed Milwaukee Bucks end road trip with a loss to the Phoenix Suns