NBA Finals Bucks-Suns: 3 ways Milwaukee evened up series at 2-2

Phoenix Suns, Milwaukee Bucks, 2021 NBA Finals
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Milwaukee Bucks, Khris Middleton, NBA Rumors
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Khris Middleton has stepped up when Bucks have needed

Giannis Antetokounmpo is going to receive a lot of praise every time the Bucks win, especially from his magnificent block near the end of Game 4, but Khris Middleton was the main reason on offense why the Bucks were able to win this game. 

Once again with their back up against the wall, Khris Middleton responded with a dazzling performance. Middleton finished Game 4 with a playoff career-high 40 points on 15-33 shooting and went 7-8 from the free-throw line. This was arguably the best game of Khris Middleton’s career in the playoffs and this is not the first-time we have seen him go off like this in the postseason. 

In their previous series against the Atlanta Hawks with the series tied 1-1, Middleton exploded for 38 points on 15-26 shooting in Game 3 to carry the Bucks to a victory in Atlanta late in the fourth quarter. In Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals against the Brooklyn Nets down 3-2 in the series, Khris Middleton put the Bucks on his back and scored 38 points on 11-16 shooting, 11-12 from the free-throw line, thus keeping Milwaukee alive in the playoffs. 

Through 21 games in the playoffs now, Khris Middleton is averaging 23.6 points, 7.7 rebounds, 5.1 assists and is shooting 43.3% from the floor, 34.4% from three-point range, but he has been even better when the Bucks have trailed in a playoff series. 

Milwaukee has played eight games this postseason down in a series and in those games, including Game 4 from Wednesday night, Middleton is averaging 24.1 points, 7.5 rebounds, 5.1 assists and is shooting 45.4% from the floor, 39.7% from three-point range. 

His statline may show just a small difference in scoring, but his shooting numbers are way up when Milwaukee’s backs are up against the wall, especially his three-point shooting! Middleton has proven to be the key to success for the Bucks all postseason long and he is going to have to step up once again in Game 5 if Milwaukee is to take control of this series. 

This Game 4 performance from Khris Middleton was exactly the kind of performance the Bucks needed from him to keep their championship hopes alive, but their job is not close to being down. Milwaukee is going to have to steal a game on the road in this series to win a title and while having Giannis Antetokounmpo go off for another 40-point game would help then tremendously in their efforts to steal a game in Phoenix, Khris Middleton is going to have to have another big game for the Bucks in this series. 

Middleton is the key for the Bucks against the Suns and if he can build off of his Game 4 performance in Game 5, then the Milwaukee Bucks will have a very strong chance to go up 3-2 in this series. Winning Game 5 is going to be extremely tough for the Bucks to do, especially since the Suns are 35-11 in Phoenix Suns Arena this year (regular season and postseason combined) and have lost three consecutive games just once during the regular season, but it is possible. 

Milwaukee controls all the momentum in this NBA Finals series heading back to Phoenix, but as mentioned earlier, “a series never really begins until a team loses at home.” Can the Bucks finally break through and win a game in Phoenix on Saturday night?

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