Milwaukee Bucks: 3 biggest wild cards that will determine Miami Heat series

Is Khris Middleton the biggest bellwether in the Milwaukee Bucks’ series vs. the Heat?

Once again, any and all playoff prospects the Bucks hold run through superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo. Meanwhile, Jrue Holiday stands as the biggest difference Milwaukee has going for them as far as their personnel is considering going into such a critical series and playoff run as a whole.

With that in mind, Bucks fans may be wondering where Khris Middleton stands amid all of this.

Middleton’s 2020-21 season was littered with plenty of highs and lows, mirroring the Bucks’ regular season as a whole. Yet he found ways to rise up in big moments and for big occasions and has found his rhythm and game, especially as the Bucks integrated Holiday over the season.

The Bucks will certainly lean on Middleton to provide all of the smooth operating and scoring that they will need to propel past the Heat. Holiday’s presence will surely make Middleton’s life all that much easier without so much defensive attention heading towards his way as we saw by the end of last year’s series.

Defensively, Middleton will likely be tasked with the same kind of role he had in chasing around the Heat’s shooters such as Robinson. While it got lost in the face of the Bucks’ playoff collapse, Middleton held Robinson to 17 points on 5-for-15 shooting from long range, one assist and two turnovers across 64.3 partial possessions, per NBA.com/stats.

Middleton’s size, length and versatility clearly bothered Robinson as he looked to find any sliver of space to launch away from beyond the arc. Milwaukee will surely need that and much more on the defensive end from the two-time All-Star.

For all of the changes that the Bucks have gone through and on many fronts, Middleton’s ability to hit shots, run the Bucks’ offense and clamp down on the Heat’s multiple shooting threats will be incredibly crucial in determining the outcome of this rematch.