Devin Booker vs. Khris Middleton
The last key matchup to watch in this series is Khris Middleton defending Devin Booker. Since he entered the league in 2015, Devin Booker has always been a force offensively, but he has never really been able to display his scoring skills on a large stage until this year in the playoffs.
Through his first 16 career postseason games, Booker is averaging 27.0 points, 6.4 rebounds, 4.8 assists and is shooting 44.4% from the floor, 34.4% from three-point range. He even went off against the Clippers in Game 1 of their previous series and scored 40 total points on 15-29 shooting!
Devin Booker is a premier scorer in this league and has continued to be one of the best offensive performers in the 2021 NBA Playoffs. Phoenix is going to need him to continue being their “go-to” scorer if they are to win their first championship ever, but Khris Middleton is not an easy guy to score against.
P.J. Tucker is also a possible matchup threat for Booker in this series, but the Bucks will likely put Middleton on the 24-year-old shooting guard to start. The 2x All-Star for the Bucks has been one of their key defenders on the wing for years now and his 6’11” wingspan could definitely present some challenges for Devin Booker in this NBA Finals matchup.
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If Middleton is able to find some success against Booker defensively, possibly even bringing down his scoring average in the playoffs by a few points, this will have drastic changes in this series that will be in favor of the Bucks. If Booker is somewhat limited by Khris Middleton, then this will force the Suns to get other production from guys like Jae Crowder and Mikal Bridges on the wing.
Milwaukee would much rather deal with trying to stop Crowder and Bridges than Devin Booker possibly going for 40 points in this series, which is why this is the third and final key matchup to watch in this series. I am sure the Bucks will look to collapse on Booker when he looks to drive to the basket, possibly even double-teaming him off of screens, but containing him on the perimeter will be Khris Middleton’s job.
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Middleton is one of the keys for the Milwaukee Bucks in this series not only because of his ability to score, but because of what he can bring to the table defensively. The NBA Finals are a time for stars of the league to step up for their teams in order to win a championship, so it should be interesting to see who wins this battle between Booker and Middleton all series long.
