Nba playoff, Khris Middleton injured: does not play Boston-Milwaukee

After having received the good news, the qualification for the second round of the playoff ending 4-1 with Chicago, Milwaukee also had a bad one: in the semifinal in the East against Boston it will not have Khris Middleton, stopped due to the medial collateral sprain of the left knee remedied in race-2 in the first round with the Bulls.

The injury

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The rumors about the conditions of the Milwaukee All Star launched by The Athletic arrive a week after the official diagnosis, which predicted that the 30-year-old who last summer won the NBA title and Olympic gold in less than a month, a stop of 15 days before being re-evaluated. The distortion, however, seems serious enough not only to prevent Middleton from returning to the series against Boston, which starts on Sunday at 19 Italian and has the eventual game-7 scheduled for May 15, but also to question his presence in the eventual conference final, assuming that the Bucks champions reach it.

The series

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Middleton was still finding his playoff pace, and in Game-2 with Chicago he had produced 18 points, 6 rebounds and 8 assists in 33 minutes before stopping. Milwaukee without him dominated the next three games, outclassing the Bulls in the two in the Windy City and then easily closing the accounts in Game-5, thanks to too many injuries to the opponents. Against Boston, however, it will be completely different, because Middleton would have had the task of trying to keep Jayson Tatum at bay, the wild mvp of the Celtics series against the Nets able to outclass Kevin Durant. Coach Bud in the three games without Middleton has included Bobby Portis in the quintet, alongside Giannis Antetokounmpo and Brook Lopez for a frontcourt of physique and centimeters. While Portis has proven to be valuable in this role as well, Bud may choose other solutions to try and limit Tatum. Even if Milwaukee is deeper than in the past, Middleton’s absence is still a bad blow: because Giannis loses that partner he knows by heart, capable of raising the level in the last playoffs until the absence of the Greek is felt, and why Middleton does so much for the Bucks on both sides of the pitch, from defender to alternative game creator to second scorer. Figuring out how to replace him will be coach Bud’s mission number 1 between now and Sunday.