Khris Middleton – Milwaukee Bucks
Much like his counterpart in Jrue Holiday, Khris Middleton has really stepped up his play as of late and has taken advantage of the opportunity to be the “alpha” on the Milwaukee Bucks with Giannis Antetokounmpo sidelined.
Over his last two games, Middleton has averaged 29.0 points, 8.5 rebounds, 7.5 assists and has shot 47.6% from the floor. The only difference between him and Holiday though is that Middleton has been much more efficient in the playoffs offensively and has been their second-leading scorer this postseason next to Giannis.
Khris Middleton is averaging 23.4 points, 8.0 rebounds and 5.1 assists in these playoffs while shooting 43.4% from the floor, but the most impressive part about his game has not shown up in the stats sheets. Middleton has gone on scoring frenzies over the course of various games this postseason and has helped the Bucks to plenty of victories with or without Giannis on the court.
In the second quarter of Game 6 against the Brooklyn Nets earlier in the postseason, the 2x All-Star for Milwaukee really displayed this scoring “flurry” when he scored 17 of his team’s 33 total points in the quarter and was virtually unstoppable every time he touched the ball on offense.
READ MORE: Previewing the 2021 NBA Finals between the Bucks and Suns
He displayed this same “in-the-zone” mindset on offense in the fourth quarter of Game 3 against the Atlanta Hawks a series ago. It seemed like Atlanta held all the momentum in this game and were controlling things up until Middleton went off in the fourth quarter, scoring 20 total points in the quarter and single-handedly outscoring the Hawks in this quarter.
When Khris Middleton gets locked-in on offense, he is unguardable at times and he has proven this time and time again in these playoffs. Given how well he has been playing as of late, Middleton is going to continue to see production on the offensive-end of the court and will have to be a catalyst for them in The Finals against the Suns not only because Phoenix is a very good defensive team, but because Giannis is going to be hobbled/bothered by his knee injury.
The Bucks are going to need Middleton to continue dominating on offense late in games and if he continues to do so against the Phoenix Suns, then it will be hard for him not to win Finals MVP. He has that “it” factor to take over games with his shooting stroke, which is why Khris Middleton has a very good chance to win Finals MVP this year.
