Milwaukee Bucks: Top 6 best moments from team’s triumphant title run
By Dalton Sell
Top moments from Milwaukee Bucks’ title run: Khris Middleton’s 40 points ties the NBA Finals up 2-2
By all accounts, Middleton had been subpar throughout the first three games of the NBA Finals. Although he scored 29 points in Game 1, it took him 26 shots to get there. He followed that game with a brutal 11 point performance and then scored 18 in the following. With the Bucks trailing in the series 2-1, they would need a big outing from their second star to tie things up.
Thankfully, that is exactly what Middleton gave them, delivering an all-time great performance. The forward would score a playoff career-high 40 points in a 109-103 Bucks’ victory, particularly coming up clutch in the closing minutes. Middleton would score 10 of Milwaukee’s final 12 points to help seal the deal and help the Bucks tie things up heading back to Phoenix. Seeing Middleton and Devin Booker, who scored 42 points of his own, go back-and-forth was captivating to watch, even more so as Middleton came out on top.
With Jrue Holiday scoring just 13 points on a horrific 4-of-20 shooting, Middleton took on the extra workload and stepped up when the Bucks needed him the most. Antetokounmpo was solid by chipping in 26 points, but he knows better than anyone that when Middleton is hot on the offensive end, just give him the ball and get out of the way. It goes without saying that the Bucks would have faced a near-insurmountable 3-1 deficit had Middleton not stepped up.
Spoiler alert, this will not be the last moment from Game 4 of the 2021 Finals.