Khris Middleton’s bouncing buzzer-beater 3 lifts Bucks over Suns
The Milwaukee Bucks have been impressive enough this season to have graduated from an early surprise team to genuine challengers for a postseason berth with the ability to surprise a favorite in the opening round. Yet if the basketball world has agreed to take the Bucks seriously, then it’s also true that we’re just starting to understand what makes them exciting and watchable. This young team isn’t just getting better — they’re also a lot of fun.
Monday night’s road contest against the Phoenix Suns served as another case for the Bucks’ case as a League Pass must-watch. After falling behind 26-14 in the first quarter, Milwaukee battled back over the next three periods. Down 94-93 with 3.5 seconds left following a go-ahead jumper from Suns forward Markieff Morris, the Bucks didn’t get their ideal shot out of a timeout. It didn’t matter, though, because Khris Middleton got a fortuitous bounce at the buzzer:
The Suns might have doubled over in agony after the shot because they just can’t seem to catch a break. They’ve now lost six games in a row, five of which have come by six points or less, and have fallen into ninth in the West at 12-14.
Meanwhile, the Bucks’ 96-94 win served as a positive ending to a night that could turn out to be a negative one in the broader context of the team’s season. A little more than a minute into the second half, rookie forward Jabari Parker had his knee buckle while dribbling in transition. He was carried off the court by teammates and initially diagnosed with a sprained left knee, which means relatively little pending the results of a likely forthcoming MRI. Here’s the video, if you care to watch it:
The Bucks would miss Parker for various reasons. The second-overall pick in June’s draft hasn’t scored with incredible consistency in the early going, but he has impressed enough and improved as he has gained experience. The Bucks have plenty of players with potential yet lack obvious go-to scorers — Parker could conceivably become that guy. Perhaps more crucially, he is at a point in his career where missing extended time could delay his development and stall the Bucks’ progress.
So here’s hoping the injury isn’t serious and ends up as a minor bump in Parker’s rookie season. We could use a team as fun as the Bucks for the rest of the year.
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Eric Freeman is a writer for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
