Milwaukee Bucks All-Star forward Khris Middleton has missed the team's last six playoff games with a knee injury, and it doesn't seem like he is trending towards a return in the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Boston Celtics.
Middleton has officially been ruled out for Games 4 and 5, but the Bucks do have a 2-1 series lead on the Celtics.
The Bucks are one-point favorites at WynnBET in Game 4 on Monday night, and our own Ben Heisler pointed out an interesting trend in this game in regards to betting the total in Bucks' games.
Khris Middleton Latest Injury Update
Khris Middleton reportedly could return in the series between the Celtics and Bucks after progressing nicely in his recovery.
Nothing official yet but don’t be surprised if Khris Middleton returns this series.
— Dario Melendez (@Dario_Melendez) May 11, 2022
I’m being told he’s progressing well and the #Bucks are not ruling him out for Games 6 (and 7 if necessary)
Source calling it “a STRONG STRONG possibility he back for Game 6” @WISN12News
Middleton suffered a left knee MCL sprain in Game 2 of the Bucks' first-round series against the Chicago Bulls. The initial timetable for Middleton's recovery was "at least two weeks" which would give him a chance to return in this series.
Milwaukee Bucks All-Star Khris Middleton has an MCL sprain in his left knee and will be re-evaluated in two weeks, sources tell ESPN. Bucks will have to play without Middleton for the rest of this first-round series against Chicago.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) April 21, 2022
However, Wojnarowski later revealed that the team didn't expect the two-week benchmark to be when Middleton was back on the floor, which leads to the possibility of him missing the entire Eastern Conference semifinals.
Woj says on "NBA Today" that Khris Middleton might be out longer than expected.#NBATwitter #FearTheDeer pic.twitter.com/dyYqDpqKX2
— ??????’ ??? (@_Talkin_NBA) April 27, 2022
The Bucks released a press release regarding Middleton's injury back on May 5, but it's the last injury update that we have received in his recovery.
"Milwaukee Bucks forward Khris Middleton continues to make steady progress on his left knee injury rehabilitation and additional updates will be provided as appropriate," the team said.
It appears that Middleton doesn't have a clear timetable to return, but the longer the series goes between the Bucks and Celtics, the better chance there is that Milwaukee will have its second-leading scorer back in the lineup.
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