Claiming two back-to-back wins for Milwaukee, the Bucks have been on fire as of late this postseason. They just came off a clean victory over the Atlanta Hawks in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals and used their momentum from that win to run straight through Atlanta again in Game 3. The Bucks left the State Farm Arena with a 2-1 series lead along with the final score tallied at 113-102 in regulation time.
Throughout most of the game, the Hawks would keep a strong lead over Milwaukee until the fourth quarter where Khris Middleton decided to take matters into his own hands. Middleton scored not only 20 points in just the fourth quarter alone but finished the game with a total of 38 points, 7 assists, and 11 rebounds; a new career-high for the 29-year-old power forward. He had one of the best games in his time in the NBA which could not have been possible without the much-needed help from his teammates, more specifically Giannas Antetokounmpo.
Giannas finished the game with 33 points, 4 assists, and 11 rebounds while shooting over 50 percent from the floor. He played the entirety of 41 minutes with no complaints, per usual, while leaving it all on the court for his team to be able to seal their crucial victory. Silently having a role in the Bucks victory tonight, Trae Young, unfortunately, rolled his ankle while accidentally stepping on a referee’s foot during the third quarter. Young managed to channel his inner ‘mamba mentality and play the game through while still impressively racking up 35 points and 4 assists for his team.
While Khris Middleton made history by becoming the ‘first Bucks player with 20 points in the fourth quarter of a playoff game in the last 25 seasons of the NBA, Milwaukee as a group still has their own history-making goal of reaching the NBA Finals since 1974. So far this series matchup has not disappointed and it will be very interesting to see who will get to advance and achieve their desired goal.