Khris Middleton Injury, Game 2 Win Change Expectation for Bulls in Bucks Series
The Chicago Bulls came alive Wednesday night with a 114-110 win over the Milwaukee Bucks in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference playoffs to even the series at one game apiece.
While the Bulls were celebrating their victory, the big story coming out of the game was a knee injury to Bucks All-Star Khris Middleton.
Milwaukee head coach Mike Budenholzer told reportersย after the game that Middleton suffered an MCL sprain in his left knee. He will undergo an MRI on Thursday to determine the severity of the injury.
Middleton has been erratic in this series, scoring a total of 29 points and committing 11 turnovers in the two games prior to his injury.
The Bucks also lost Bobby Portis in the first quarter when he was elbowed in the face by Tristan Thompson when they were fighting for a rebound.
Budenholzer told reporters the team anticipates Portis "should be fine with some timeย and that he should be good."
DeMar DeRozan had his second 40-point game against the defending NBA champions in the past two weeks. He dropped 41 (16-of-31 from the field) on Wednesday after going for 40 against them April 5.
DeRozan's final bucket of the game was a driving layup with less than 20 seconds remaining to seal the win for Chicago.
Alex Caruso was fantastic as a playmaker and defender for the Bulls. He had 10 assists in a game for just the third time in his career and first time since April 2019, when he was with the Los Angeles Lakers.
The Bulls didn't inspire a lot of confidence about their postseason hopes with how they performed down the stretch. They were 8-15, and their defense allowed 116.2 points per game after February's All-Star break.
They have made things difficult on the Bucks through the first two games of the series. Milwaukee only scored 93 points and committed 21 turnovers in its Game 1 victory.
With Middleton potentially out of action for an extended period of time, the Bulls have an opening to steal this series from the Bucks.
The series shifts to Chicago for Game 3 on Friday at 8:30 p.m. ET. That will mark the Bulls' first home playoff game since April 28, 2017.
