Khris Middleton returned for the Milwaukee Bucks and fans thought they finally had someone who will take the scoring load whenever either or both Damian Lillard and Giannis Antetokounmpo are having an off night.
That did not happen though in their NBA Emirates Cup win against the Orlando Magic after he went zero point and took just two shots.
Lillard does not see it as a problem. He believes in Middleton’s ability and that he thinks his veteran teammate is contributing in ways that will not be seen on the stat sheet.
Khris just knows, he understands the game, he understands matchups, he understands what’s supposed to be happening. He’s always tracking what’s happening in the game. You’ll see him on the sideline and you’ll hear him ‘They keep on doing this so this is what we’re going to do.
The Bucks definitely found another leader in Middleton. He is in fact being credited by many fans for Bobby Portis playing well again as they thought only K-Midd can straighten up the usually hot-headed center.
Good thing for the Bucks, Lillard and Antetokounmpo were reliable as usual.
They had to bleed for every point, especially in crunch time. Dame Time happened in under one minute as he scored 9 points, including a clutch three that tied the game at 106.
Damian Lillard is grateful for Khris Middleton’s IQ
Lillard has been playing like his prime Portland Trailblazers days this season, being in the Top 10 of scoring.
He now has more time focus on the scoring department with the arrival of Middleton. He does not have to ask K-Midd to assist him but he knows that his teammates basketball IQ will help him.
I think for me as a point guard, as somebody who’s always looking around.. having another guy out there like that who plays off of his mind. He’s constantly thinking. Constantly seeing what’s going on, you know just trying to find that edge, you can feel that out there. It’s not a always numbers game. He still had 8 assists, four 3 rebounds, 3 steals, you could feel him on the floor.
Right now, the Bucks are 13-11 in the Eastern Conference and Lillard, Middleton, and Antetokounmpo will need more games to play together to find their potential.
They have played just 43 games together in total since Lillard joined them at the start of the 2023-2024 season.
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