NBA: Milwaukee Bucks’ Khris Middleton continues to shoot them into playoffs

Jay Asser 05:10 26/03/2015
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  • Aim and fire: Khris Middleton sunk two 3-pointers against Miami.

    Khris Middleton’s rise has coincided with the Milwaukee Bucks’ this season and when the team has needed clutch shots, the sharpshooter has stepped up. In a crucial meeting between playoff hopefuls on Tuesday night, Middleton drilled a game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer to lift Milwaukee to an 89-88 win over the Miami Heat.

    Had Miami won, they would have moved within a half game of the Bucks for the sixth spot in the Eastern Conference, while Milwaukee would have dropped their seventh straight game and continued to look in freefall.

    Instead, Middleton came through in the most meaningful moment, despite struggling to find his range all game and missing the potential tying 3 just seconds earlier.

    “I knew it was ticking down, so I knew I just had to catch and shoot,” said Middleton. “I can’t think about anything else, but just catch it and let it go. I missed one badly, but my team-mates told me to keep shooting and if I get it again, just have the confidence to knock it down.”

    Before knocking down the walkoff shot, Middleton hit just 4-of-16 from the field and 1-of-7 from beyond the arc. But even though the ball found him in the final moments after a chaotic sequence, Middleton was true.

    “The ball always ends up in the best shooters’ hands. You don’t even have to draw up a play for them a lot of times,” Bucks coach Jason Kidd said.

    “You look at Khris, he’s no secret. Everybody knows he can shoot the ball and he was at the right place at the right time. Not just finding him, but he’s always been in the right place at the right time.”

    After being drafted in the second round (39th overall) in 2012, the 23-year-old has hit the NBA radar this season and been one of the reasons why Milwaukee have gone from the worst record in the league in 2013-14 to now fighting for a playoff spot.

    Middleton is averaging 13.1 points, 4.5 rebounds, 2.2 assists and shooting 46.7 per cent from the field and 42.7 per cent on 3-pointers.

    His efficiency from long range is particularly impressive as he ranks sixth in the league in 3-point percentage, in the same company as some of the game’s top shooters. His averages, however, aren’t too different from the numbers he posted last season.

    The difference between his sophomore campaign and this year has been Middleton’s increased role throughout the season as he’s transformed from a rotation player to a mainstay force.

    Middleton’s scoring has climbed every month, from 7.9 points per game in November, to 10.5 in December, to 12.9 in January, to 16.5 in February and 18.5 in March.

    While he was already shouldering more of the load before Milwaukee traded away their leading scorer Brandon Knight to Phoenix in February, Middleton has continued to raise his game.

    With the Bucks appearing to be headed for the playoffs, Middleton might not be done delivering clutch moments.

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