Bucks’ Khris Middleton scores 11 points in season debut against the Celtics

Khris Middleton made his debut on Friday after an extended absence while recovering from offseason surgeries.

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MILWAUKEE (AP) — Milwaukee forward Khris Middleton makes his 2024-25 season debut Friday after missing the Bucks’ first 21 games while recovering Off-season operations on each of his ankles.

Middleton entered the game midway through the first quarter following the team’s 111-105 loss to the United States Defending NBA champions Boston Celtics. Bucks coach Doc Rivers said the three-time All-Star would be placed on a minutes restriction.

He finished the game with 11 points (2-10 FGs, 1-3 3PM), three rebounds, five assists, two blocks and one steal in 23 minutes.

Due to various injuries, Middleton only played 33 games in the 2022-23 season and 55 games last season. A sprained medial ligament caused him to miss the Bucks’ final 10 playoff games of 2022.

“Coming back from this season, I wanted to make sure I was fully prepared to come back, to be as mentally fresh as possible, to be in a good position because this is a long, tiring season,” Middleton said Friday morning to reporters. “I’m going to go through a lot of things during the season, getting hit, taking hits, whatever, to have the mindset that I can still fight through it and keep going.”

It was only the ninth time that Rivers, who coached the Bucks’ final 36 games last season, had the All-Star trio of Antetokounmpo, Middleton and Damian Lillard on the floor together. In total, it was the 43rd time that the trio shared the court.

“Any coach, you want your key players, and the more games you have, the better,” Rivers said. “Every time we can get them on the floor in a practice. Any time we can get them on the field in a game and have him, Giannis and Dame there, it will help our team grow. We are behind compared to other teams whose key players play together. It will come. It will only take a minute.”

Jon Horst, general manager of the Rivers and Bucks, expressed optimism before the season that the recovery would not result in the 33-year-old Middleton missing much time.

Rivers acknowledged that it would be difficult to get Middleton back into the rotation 21 games into the season. The Bucks opened the season 2-8 but entered Friday with nine of 11 wins since a 113-107 loss in Boston on Nov. 10.

“It’s obviously not easy,” Rivers said. “It doesn’t matter how many games are left in the season, but I still want him back. Whatever the minutes are, we’ll use them all up.”

He remains productive when he is healthy. Middleton averaged 15.1 points, 5.3 assists and 4.7 rebounds during the 2023-24 season. When Antetokounmpo missed the Bucks’ first-round playoff loss to the Indiana Pacers, Middleton took on a larger role, averaging 24.7 points, 9.2 rebounds and 4.7 assists in the six-game series.