The Boston Celtics must not forget about Khris Middleton
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice? Then Khris Middleton just exploded again and your team is down 2-1 in the series.
The Boston Celtics have likely learned to live with the fact that you can’t stop Giannis Antetokounmpo. They slowed him down in game one, and Al Horford handled him adequately with three stunning rejections. In general, though, it’s not wise to assume you are going to prevent the Greek Freak from getting buckets.
It’s downright foolish to think he is the only Buck you need to contain. Milwaukee won 60 games, and outside of any LeBron James-led Cleveland team from the late 2000’s, one man is never the sole reason for that.
Milwaukee has built a strong team around the Greek Freak, slowly gaining pieces throughout the years. One of the first pieces of this core was oft-forgotten fellow Bucks All-Star Khris Middleton.
Acquired in 2013, the same year Greek Freak was drafted, Middleton slowly improved to the point he became a consistent rotation player. In the past two years, though, he has become an All-Star caliber player whose 3-point stroke the Celtics were burned by in a big way this past Tuesday.
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In support of Greek Freak’s 29 points, Middleton contributed 27 of his own off the strength of 70% 3-point shooting on 10 attempts. It’s clear the Celtics did not pay enough attention to defending the perimeter, given the Bucks’ franchise record 20 made 3-pointers. They didn’t pay NEARLY enough attention to stopping Middleton, though.
If an unheralded role player is going to kill you in the playoffs, you live with that. Hell, even Brook Lopez’ dominance from the 3-point line is something you can bear. But a 2019 All-Star is not someone you allow to get 10 decent looks.
Boston has a brilliant basketball mind in Brad Stevens that has his team prepared night in and night out typically. On Tuesday, he simply didn’t make the necessary adjustments to stop a guy that has averaged a touch under 20 points a game the last two years.
The end result was what you should expect, though. All-Stars are All-Stars for a reason: consistency at a high level. If you leave open a career 39% 3-point shooter, they are likely going to torch you.
Stevens must send any help possible to the wing to stop Middleton and, to a lesser extent, Lopez. Whoever isn’t trying to stop the Greek Freak should be avoiding another 3-point barrage. You can live with either Sterling Brown or Eric Bledsoe shooting from the outside.
It’s time to stop forgetting Middleton though. Him earning All-Star status should have been the catalyst to all teams not taking him lightly, but after learning the hard way, Boston must prioritize stopping him.