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Milwaukee Bucks: Khris Middleton sets tone in Team USA’s exhibition win over Spain

By Jordan Treske

ANAHEIM, CA - AUGUST 16: Khris Middleton #57 of Team USA hi-fives Juancho Hernangomez #41 of Team Spain on August 16, 2019 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images)
ANAHEIM, CA - AUGUST 16: Khris Middleton #57 of Team USA hi-fives Juancho Hernangomez #41 of Team Spain on August 16, 2019 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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In their final tune-up game stateside as part of their exhibition tour ahead of the FIBA World Cup, Team USA downed Spain in a 90-81 victory and Milwaukee Bucks All-Star swingman Khris Middleton was at the center of their winning performance.

As national teams around the world continue to prepare for the FIBA World Cup, the Milwaukee Bucks have indirectly come into the international spotlight.

Friday night was no different when Team USA fended off Spain in a 90-81 win in what was their last friendly before departing for Australia to continue their exhibition tour ahead of the start of the FIBA World Cup in China.

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It was Bucks swingman Khris Middleton who was instrumental in helping Team USA get off on the right foot on Friday night at the Honda Center in Anaheim. The 27-year-old came out firing away and knocked down his first three shots, the first two being from long distance and the third coming from mid-range.

Those early points helped to give Team USA the early edge to gain a little separation at that point, which they would maintain as the night wore on, as well as the strong perimeter shooting they used to carry their overall performance (USA went 11-of-19 from deep while Spain was 12-of-25 from that range).

While he wasn’t able to continue on with the immaculate shooting marks, Middleton picked his spots well throughout his ensuing shifts on the floor, burying a nice little floater in the paint and canning another mid-range jumper coming off a screen for his final pair of points in the fourth frame.

If there was one flaw to draw from Middleton’s showing, which happened to be the whole squad’s biggest fault, it was the sloppiness he showed at times dishing the ball out to his teammates and inaccurate passes, especially in pick and roll situations. However, that isn’t to say Middleton wasn’t able to pick out his teammates, but they mostly came through off easy reads and odd-man advantages in transition and resulted in easy dunks.

All in all, the All-Star forward finished with 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the field (2-for-4 from three, 0-for-2 from the foul line), four turnovers, three rebounds, three assists and was a +7 in his 19 minutes and 23 seconds of burn.

While Middleton did plenty to contribute towards last night’s win, his seven-foot teammate, Brook Lopez, didn’t get nearly the same fair shake in the squad’s victory over Spain.

The 31-year-old saw limited minutes and very controlled shifts all throughout the night and ended up garnering the fewer amount of minutes between his center counterparts in Mason Plumlee and Myles Turner (Plumlee started the first half, while Turner started the second half for Team USA).

Additionally, Lopez played a vastly different role compared to the floor spacing, three-point gunner role we’ve been accustomed to seeing while with the Bucks as he spent the majority of his time on the floor setting screens and rolling to the hoop.

With that said, Lopez made good on the first sight of daylight he saw from long range and banged in his lone triple late in the first quarter. Lopez later put in a nice sequence late in the third quarter where he swatted a shot attempt near the cup on one end and capitalized on a feed from Team USA hopeful Derrick White for an easy slam.

In the end, Lopez posted eight points on 2-of-4 shooting from the field (1-for-2 from three, 3-for-4 from the foul line), two rebounds, two blocks and was a +5 in nearly nine and a half minutes of play.

Now all of the attention turns to Team USA’s travels down under where they will next head to Australia to play against the Boomers for a pair of friendlies as well as have a final tune up against Canada. And the final pair of cuts will be made over that timespan before the World Cup kicks off in exactly two weeks as head coach Gregg Popovich confirmed following the win.

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For Lopez and Middleton, that means maintaining their high level of play will be key to ensure they survive the looming roster cuts in order to represent their country on the international stage when the World Cup takes over the basketball world in due time.

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