Khris Middleton had, by far, his most efficient month of the season in January
Boy, oh boy, is it nice to see the regular Khris Middleton back, huh?
After a few lackluster months with flashes of his old self sprinkled in, Middleton broke out in January for easily his best month of basketball this season.
His season had been plagued with injuries and illness to this point, but he got to play in 14 of the Bucks’ 15 games this month, and getting that consistency seemed to have helped him a little bit.
The Bucks’ second star averaged 22.1 points (highest in any month), 6.4 rebounds (highest in any month), and 5.7 assists (highest in any month). His turnovers were still high (47 total, 15.9 percent turnover rate), but that comes with Holiday being out and being asked to do more.
The efficiency is what I’m most encouraged by, though. Before January, his best true shooting percentage by month was just over 57 percent in December which is about a percent above league average, in January his true shooting was over 62 percent. He shot right around 90 percent from the free-throw line (about five attempts per game) and over 42 percent from 3 (over six attempts per game).
It was pretty ugly watching Middleton struggle to find his rhythm, but he’s gotten hot as the weather has gotten cold and it was reaffirmed that he was back after a huge night against the Sacramento Kings.
Antetokounmpo was out and he carried the Bucks to a win with efficient shooting and great playmaking. The opponent doesn’t matter, Middleton’s January speaks for itself. It was his best month and he’s back playing at an All-Star level.
It was a frustrating month, for sure, but there were some positives that are more important for the long-term success (a.k.a the playoffs) than the middle of winter against non-playoff teams.