Milwaukee Bucks: Three stars of the week after breaking losing streak

The Milwaukee Bucks’ second star of the week — Khris Middleton

It sure was a reassuring sight to see Khris Middleton put up his season-high 32 points in the Bucks’ win over the Kings last night.

After all, Middleton has arguably been most affected by Holiday’s absence more than any other Bucks player during this stretch. Opposing defenses like Toronto have keyed in on Middleton to take him out of games with increased defensive attention and pressure, which certainly served as a different experience than he’s been used to.

Fortunately, Middleton appears to have regained his rhythm, though facing against the league’s worst defense in the Kings helped matters. So did Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer opting to insert D.J. Augustin into the starting lineup to put less pressure on Middleton and Antetokounmpo to organize the Bucks’ offense. With that move, the Bucks’ offense returned to normal with Middleton putting up improved scoring performances.

But in order for the Bucks to succeed in the bigger picture, Middleton’s ability to rise above that increased defensive pressure will be a must for him and the Bucks as a whole. Middleton getting sped up and panicking in the face of defensive traps or blitzes has done more damage to take him out of games as we’ve recently seen.

Of course, the burden will be lessened for Middleton once Holiday returns back into the mix.