Bucks get Malcolm Brogdon back for potential series clincher

After being expected to miss Game 5 against the Celtics, Malcolm Brogdon will be back on the floor for the Milwaukee Bucks Wednesday night.

With three straight wins and Game 5 back against the Boston Celtics back at home, things are pretty good for the Milwaukee Bucks right now. But after being listed as out on Tuesday, guard Malcolm Brogdon has been upgraded to probable and is expected to play Wednesday night.

Brogdon has been out since March 15 with a torn plantar fascia in his right foot, but he was one of Milwaukee’s best players before going down.

He averaged 15.6 points, 4.5 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game in 64 regular season games (all starts), while converting a league-high 92.8 percent from the line.

He also, however far off the radar, became the eighth member of the 50-40-90 club for a season, shooting 50.5 percent from the floor and 42.6 percent from beyond the arc to go with the aforementioned clip from the free-throw line.

As expected, coach Mike Budenholzer will keep Brogdon on a minutes restriction and he will not take his place back in the starting lineup Wednesday night.

Where that playing time mark sits is unknown, but Brogdon’s usage within whatever playing time range seems sure to be dictated by game situation. Initially given a 6-8 week recovery timetable, Brogdon is just about to eight full weeks now.

Between the end of the regular season (8-5) and the playoffs to this point (7-1), the Bucks are 15-6 without Brogdon. Sterling Brown and Pat Connaughton have had some good moments in Brogdon’s place.

But having the 2017 NBA Rookie of the Year back in the mix will clearly help Milwaukee reach their end goals of a conference title, or even the franchise’s first championship since 1971.

His contribution Wednesday night is not likely to be noteworthy, but having Brogdon at something close to full strength for the start of the Eastern Conference Finals makes the Bucks even better than they already were.