NBA Thanksgiving 2019: What each team has to be thankful for

Milwaukee Bucks

Overcoming Khris Middleton’s injury with the Greek Freak

Khris Middleton will return to action Wednesday night, but him being sidelined for two weeks didn’t slow down the Milwaukee Bucks in the slightest. In fact, they went a perfect 7-0 without him, including big wins over the Pacers and Utah Jazz, to climb back to the top of the East.

It takes a team effort to replace a two-way player of Middleton’s caliber, but if you think anyone but Giannis Antetokounmpo was the main catalyst, you’d be kidding yourself. Over that seven-game stretch, the Greek Freak posted a staggering 33.1 points, 13.3 rebounds, 5.7 assists, 2.0 steals and 0.9 blocks per game.

Losing Brogdon over the summer clearly hurt the Bucks, but in spite of Middleton’s injury piling on top of Milwaukee’s underwhelming 6-3 start, sometimes it’s worthwhile to just step back and appreciate having the best player on the court on your side.