Camila Sosa
Injuries are taking their toll on several teams during the current NBA Playoffs and Khris Middleton is one of those figures who will be off the boards for a good amount of time due to physical discomfort.
The Milwaukee Bucks’ veteran point guard was injured during the second game of the first round of the East Division against the Chicago Bulls, and the team expects him to be out for at least the remainder of the series.
Mike Budenholzer, coach of the Bucks, was the first to confirm the bad news to the Milwaukee fans, who in addition to learning that Middleton suffered a sprained cruciate ligament in his left knee, saw Chicago even the series by defeating them 114-110 on Wednesday.
“From what they just told me, in the examination, it’s a cruciate ligament sprain. We will do an MRI tomorrow and with that we will be able to have better details of the injury.”
Mike Budenholzer on Khris Middleton’s injury.
During the press conference Budenholzer looked very concerned about the severity of Khris Middleton’s injury. And, although Milwaukee has not made it official, WISN 12News reporter Darío Meléndez has already released details.
According to Melendez, the 30-year-old will be out of action for three to four weeks, so if the Bucks can get past the Bulls, they will have to play their next opponents, the Celtics or the Nets, for a few games without one of their top players.
Middleton scored 20.1 points per game this season, second on the Bucks behind circuit MVP candidate Giannis Antetokounmpo. In his tenth NBA season, ninth with the Bucks, the experienced player also contributed 5.4 rebounds per game, 5.4 assists and 1.2 steals per game, with his best performance being his effectiveness from long distance, which finished at 37.3%.
Khris Middleton’s Injury: How Did it Happen
The play on which Khris Middleton was injured was quite bizarre. Down by 15 points with just over seven minutes left in the game, Milwaukee had the ball and Middleton attempted to drive to the basket. In his attempt he ran into Alex Caruso, who prevented him from attacking the rim and with whom he collided before slipping.
After the play Middleton stayed on the bench to see if he could overcome the discomfort and continue playing, however, he went to the locker room by his own means and it was not heard from him again until the information given by his coach after the end of the game.
