Milwaukee Bucks: Analyzing Khris Middleton/DeMarre Carroll Matchup

Defense

Middleton should fare well defensively against the Raptor wing, who is having his worst offensive year in three seasons. He’s scoring in single digits, 8.9 points per game, and shot 34 percent from three.

After his knee injury, Carroll is essentially a spot up shooter, who struggles to drive without a pump fake fooling his defender.

Middleton is still coming back from his injury, and looked generally worn down towards the end of the season. Jason Kidd gave him the night off against the Celtics on Wednesday night. Providing him four days off before the playoffs begin.

Matching up with Carroll could help his miles per gallon for the series. As with the Bucks’ defensive system, he’ll still need to help off his man to contests open threes, which the Raptors like to shoot at a high rate. But overall, there are worse matchups for the Bucks’ recovering star.

He must be careful not to get too comfortable on this end of the floor, as DeMarre is the type of player that will come to play for the playoffs. If Middleton isn’t ready to contest him on ball reversals, he’ll just pull up and hit a dagger.

Take care of that, and he should fare well on this side of the floor.