How Khris Middleton’s injury impacts remainder of Bulls-Bucks series

The Chicago Bulls shocked the world Wednesday night, upsetting the Milwaukee Bucks,114-110. DeMar DeRozan scored a playoff career high 41 points in 44 minutes. The team’s defense was spectacular, led by Alex Caruso. And Chicago might’ve caught one of the biggest breaks of any team in the postseason.

Bucks star Khris Middleton slipped on a drive to the basket midway through the fourth quarter. He immediately began favoring his left leg, attempting to stretch it out on the sidelines before he headed to the locker room. He did not return to the game and finished with 18 points, eight assists and five rebounds in 33 minutes for the Bucks.

Following the game, Milwaukee’s head coach Mike Budenholzer announced that Middleton was receiving an MRI to determine the severity and timeline of the injury. On Thursday, it was revealed Middleton will be out for Games 3 and 4 (at least, likely longer) with a sprained MCL.

Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo said that losing Middleton is huge for the Bucks but they’ll have to figure it out.

"“Obviously Khris is one of the best players on the team,” Antetokounmpo said. “If he’s not able to be with us, it going to be a tremendous loss for us. But at the end of the day, we’ve got guys that hopefully can step up and we can still do our job and compete and enjoy the game, and hopefully it’s not something very serious and he can come back and join us very soon.”"

So who’s going to fill in for Khris Middleton in Games 3 and 4 of the Bulls-Bucks series?

Over the past two seasons, the Bucks are 86-34 when Antetokounmpo, Middleton and Jrue Holiday are all on the floor together, including the playoffs. However, Milwaukee did outscore opponents by nearly eight points per 100 possessions when Antetokounmpo and Holiday played without Middleton on the floor.

They can still win, and will still be the favorites in this series. Pat Connaughton will be the one who likely fills in for Middleton. He’s a capable shooter, whose role was vital in the Bucks’ championship run last year.

In their 23 playoff games last season, he shot 38% from three with 79% of his shots being catch-and-shoot 3-pointers. At 6-foot-5, he has a high release that forces close outs to be aggressive, but his handle isn’t strong enough to create shots off the dribble. In Game 2, he went 0-for-4 from the field and was defended by Zach LaVine, whose athleticism allows him to cut off weaker ball-handlers even when he’s beat off of closeouts.

With Connaughton forced to start, the Bucks will have to put in another shooter, likely Grayson Allen, at the backup shooting guard slot. Allen has had success against the Bulls this season and is able to create off the dribble, giving the second unit a challenge. The Bucks could also experiment between Allen, Connaughton and Wesley Matthews rotating at Middleton’s position.

All three are viable options, with Allen being the best ball handler out of the three while Matthews is the best defender. None of them, however, provide the same scoring or impact as Middleton.

So what do the Bucks’ potential adjustments mean for the Bulls?

Middleton’s role on the Bucks is huge. He averaged 20 points, five rebounds and five assists during the season. He was a key contributor in the Milwaukee’s title run last season, averaging at least 21 points in each of the four playoff series. He averaged 24 points, six rebounds and five assists per game in the NBA Finals.

If he’s out beyond Games 3 and 4, depending on the severity of the injury as we wait for updates, the Bucks could really be in danger should the Bulls’ stars deliver like they did on Wednesday.

"“It’s the plant leg that gets hurt and his other leg slips and so that puts a stress. It’s called a valgus stress on the knee,” Marquette University’s Athletic Training Director Christopher Geiser told WISN 12. “If it’s a third-degree, that’s probably a season-ender, right? If it’s a second-degree, those typically take six weeks or so to heal over and if you do the math on that, it’s not looking pretty good for the playoffs. If it’s more of a first-degree or very slight second-degree then taking care of it, being very nice to it, he could be back in the playoffs.”"

This gives the Bulls much-needed flexibility in their defensive schemes. With Connaughton in the lineup instead of Middleton, the Bulls’ rotations don’t have to be as controlled. Middleton and Holiday are elite playmakers, with both able to get a paint touch and find the best shot.

Connaughton isn’t that. He can hit open shots and perhaps layups off of cuts, but he isn’t dissecting defenses. When the Bulls trap Antetokounmpo down low, they just need to worry about running Connaughton off the line whereas they had to focus on closing out to contain Middleton on a drive.

That means the Bulls can be even more aggressive on their traps on Antetokounmpo, a formula that’s bound to give Chicago the advantage in the next few games. Caruso’s defense on Antetokounmpo in the fourth quarter of Game 2 sealed the game for Chicago, as he was able to draw multiple offensive fouls on the Greek Freak.

The series shifts to Chicago for the next two games, with the Bulls looking to take the series lead. Chicago and Milwaukee will tip off Friday night 7:30 CT on ABC, and we’ll get a much better idea of what the Bucks look like without their second-best player.