Bucks' Middleton ruled out for Game 3, likely to miss series
Milwaukee forward Khris Middleton has been ruled out of Friday's Game 3 at the United Center due to a left knee MCL sprain.
ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported Middleton will be reevaluated in two weeks, which would mean he won't play again in the first-round series against the Bulls.
The injury happened with 7:30 remaining in the fourth quarter of Wednesday's Game 2. Middleton drove toward the basket, used a spin move against Alex Caruso, and as he threw a pass, his legs slipped out from under him and he landed awkwardly.
Middleton stayed on the ground for a bit, played the next two defensive possessions, then was subbed out and walked straight to the locker room.
"You expect him to get up and, you know, to walk it off and get back to the game," teammate Giannis Antetokounmpo said after the game. "But then you see that he's limping and limping and limping. And you're thinking, 'Oh (shoot), I hope it's not bad. I hope it's not bad. We need this guy.'
"But then when he asks for a sub, you know that it's bothering him because he doesn't leave the game if he's not hurt."
During the regular season, Middleton was Milwaukee's second-leading scorer at 20.1 points. He scored 11 and 18 points in the first two games of this series.
"You feel for him," Bucks guard Wesley Matthews said. "Khris is a huge part of this team, this organization, this city. We've still got a job to do. Our goal is to win basketball games and get him back as fast as possible."
Milwaukee went 7-9 in games Middleton missed during the regular season. He did not play in a blowout win over the Bulls on March 22.
"We've got to play basketball," Matthews said. "We've got to play hard, we've got to compete every single possession; got to make everything tough, every catch tough, every rebound tough and fight. It's going to be loud, it's going to be crazy there in Chicago. We've just got to be ready for it."
Freak wants more fun:
Giannis Antetokounmpo had a message for his Milwaukee teammates following the Game 2 loss.
"Have more fun," he said. "I don't think we're enjoying the game as much as possible. I don't know if we set an expectation too high. At the end of the day, if you're not going to enjoy yourself, go back home and just sit home.
"We've got to play free, we've got to enjoy it. When you're open, shoot the ball. Do not make the ball feel heavy. If we don't score for six minutes straight, it doesn't matter, you keep defending, you figure something out, adapt and eventually you're going to score the ball."
During the first two games of the series, the two-time MVP has averaged 30 points, 17 rebounds and 6 assists. Elsewhere on the roster, it's hard to find anyone who's played well beyond Antetokounmpo and center Brook Lopez.
"We should not feel uptight. Sometimes that's what I feel like we feel out there," Antetokounmpo said. "Game 3, Game 4, no matter who plays or doesn't play, it doesn't matter. We've got to go out there and enjoy the game and if we lose, we lose; if we win, we win. Great. But if you're not going to enjoy the game, you should stay home."
Caruso does more:
Alex Caruso went from playing 33 minutes in Game 1 to 38 in Game 2. He'd been resting a back injury to be closer to full strength for the playoffs and the plan appears to have paid off.
"Just talking to him coming out of Game 1, I think he felt like he needed some time to get his legs back under him," Bulls coach Billy Donovan said. "He felt like he could play more minutes than I played him in Game 1.
"He's really a great guy because he will not shortcut or rest on the court. He's going to give you everything he has. He knows when he needs to come out. I talked to him in the fourth with maybe eight minutes (left), he said, 'I'm going to need a break.'"
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