With just under four minutes remaining in the fourth quarter of Sunday's game between the Milwaukee Bucks and the Oklahoma City Thunder, Khris Middleton needed one point to get a triple-double. To his surprise, head coach Doc Rivers called a timeout to take him out of the game and Middleton made it clear he wanted to stay in.
Rivers obliged and Middleton scored on the very next possession to record just the second triple-double of his career. The 32-year-old then intentionally fouled to come out of the game and end the night with 11 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists, and 1 block.
The only other triple-double of Middleton's career had come in a game against the Philadelphia 76ers back on Jan. 20, 2018. He had 23 points, 14 rebounds, 10 assists, and 1 steal on that night.
With just how rare of an occurrence this is for him and with how the game was already won, I suppose you can't criticize the three-time All-Star for chasing it. After the game, Middleton spoke about staying in the game to get that triple-double.
"I don't chase stats too often," Middleton said when it was brought up that this was just his second triple-double. "I wouldn't have got it tonight if I (hadn't) said a little word to Doc, I was feeling it I guess you could say. I realized I was one point away where I could be in control, I can hopefully knock down the jump shot like I did tonight."
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Middleton also hilariously stated there was a lot of pressure on him to hit that shot, and fortunately he got it done on the first try. The shot put the Bucks up 109-86 and they would go on to win 118-93 to improve to 46-25 on the season. Milwaukee has now won four of its last five games, with the only loss in that time coming to the Boston Celtics.
Khris Middleton Has Impressed Recently
Middleton has not quite been the same since he suffered that knee injury in the 2022 playoffs. He struggled to return to his best last season and then saw himself having to play third-fiddle to Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard in 2023-24.
With a reduced role, Middleton has only averaged 15.0 points, 4.4 rebounds, 5.2 assists, 0.9 steals, and 0.3 blocks per game this season. With Antetokounmpo himself missing some time recently, though, Middleton impressed in a bigger role.
In the two games prior to this one, Middleton had 22 points, 3 rebounds, 7 assists, and 1 steal against the Phoenix Suns and then recorded 22 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 block, and 1 steal against the Celtics.
The scoring dipped against the Thunder as Giannis returned, but he still managed to have quite an impact. If Middleton can keep being this impactful, the Bucks will be very difficult to beat in the playoffs.
Their season hasn't quite gone according to plan after trading for Lillard, which led to Adrian Griffin being fired. With Rivers having taken over, some are expecting the Bucks to fall flat on their face in the postseason, but if Middleton plays this well, I don't see any team in the East, except the Celtics, getting the better of them in a series.
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