Milwaukee Bucks: 15 greatest NBA playoff moments

11. Middleton’s Hail Mary heave

There’s no need for too much of a reminder when it comes to this particular Bucks moment, as having occurred in 2018, it remains incredibly fresh in the memory for all NBA fans.

Matched up against a Boston Celtics team that was down Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward, the seventh-seeded Bucks had real cause for hope when it came to their prospects of pulling off an upset in their matchup with the second seed.

With their performance through the first 47 minutes of Game 1, there was no reason for the Bucks to be dissuaded from that goal either.

Milwaukee had played the Celtics very close, thanks in large part to standout performances from Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton, and with just 15 seconds remaining they found themselves down three needing to do something special to avoid a series-opening defeat.

A clutch Malcolm Brogdon 3-pointer out of a timeout seemed to be just what they were looking for on that front, as the game was tied back up with 10.3 seconds remaining.

Unfortunately for Milwaukee, in a play that was representative of that matchup across the entirety of the series, that parity was short-lived as Terry Rozier crossed up Eric Bledsoe before draining a go-ahead triple of his own.

With just 0.5 seconds remaining, TD Garden rocking, and a three-point deficit to overcome, the Bucks essentially had no chance. Only it seems nobody relayed that to Khris Middleton.

Inbounded the ball by Antetokounmpo, Middleton tossed up a prayer from just past half court. He found nothing but net, and the game moved on to overtime.

The Celtics rallied impressively to close out a six-point win in the extra period, but the Bucks had already made it clear that they wouldn’t be brushed aside easily. The series went seven games and arguably helped to set the table for the big improvements the Bucks have gone on to make under Coach Budenholzer.