The Milwaukee Bucks began their back-to-back set against the New York Knicks by receiving a pleasantly surprising gift: Vintage Khris Middleton.
The veteran will look to build off one of his most impressive games of the season on Monday afternoon when the Bucks visit the Knicks. The contest tips off the NBA’s five-game Christmas Day slate.
Middleton collected 20 points, five rebounds and five assists on Saturday as the Bucks embarked upon their lengthy stint in the Big Apple with a 130-111 win over the Knicks.
Middleton wasn’t the Bucks’ biggest star Saturday, as the 1-2 punch of Giannis Antetokounmpo (28 points, seven rebounds, seven assists) and Damian Lillard (19 points, nine rebounds, seven assists) each flirted with triple-doubles. Middleton, however, was a key factor on both ends of the floor in what was nearly a wire-to-wire win for Milwaukee.
In addition to posting his first 20/5/5 line of the year, Middleton hit a season-high nine field goals and played as many as 33 minutes for just the second time. He finished with a plus/minus of plus-17 while rotating between defending the Knicks’ top two players, Jalen Brunson and Julius Randle.
“Khris is rolling,” Bucks head coach Adrian Griffin said. “You could tell he felt good out there. He was aggressive. When you see a player like that with his skills, you just try to leave him out there, try to feed him. And he was huge. We needed him. Thought that was one of his best games that he’s played.”
The loss continued a challenging and up-and-down stretch for the Knicks, who are 5-5 this month and haven’t won or lost more than two in a row since a three-game winning streak from Nov. 28 through Dec. 1.
Brunson and Randle combined to score 62 points Saturday, but no other player had more than 12 points. The Knicks continued to deal with a lack of depth following the loss of center Mitchell Robinson, who likely is out for the season with a left ankle injury.
Isaiah Hartenstein (12 points, 13 rebounds) posted a double-double Saturday but drew two fouls in the first two minutes of the game and sat out the rest of the first quarter as the Knicks fell behind 36-27. Hartenstein played 33 minutes while Taj Gibson, a 38-year-old signed as a free agent Dec. 15, had two points and one rebound in 14-plus minutes.
“That’s just something I can’t do, especially given the situation we’re in right now,” Hartenstein said, according to Newsday. “Before, when we had Mitch, we had the luxury if one guy was not doing good or if one guy was in foul trouble, I don’t think there was any drop-off at all. So I feel like especially in a situation like that where Taj is coming back trying to get his feet under him, I can’t do that.”
Per NBA.com, the Knicks are 23-32 all-time on Christmas and the Bucks are 5-4.
–Field Level Media