Bucks Stock Market: Milwaukee's perfect March continues thanks to Khris Middleton
The depleted Suns gave the Bucks all they could handle though.
The Bucks Stock Market is a fictitious market run by the GSPN crew that tracks player stock “movement” following the conclusion of every game. Here’s the spreadsheet logging the game-by-game results.
The Phoenix Suns without Chris Paul, Devin Booker, and Cam Johnson should be no problem for the Milwaukee Bucks at home, right? Well, between their longterm injuries and afternoon ABC games functioning as kryptonite to Milwaukee’s Superman, the Bucks needed every bit of a superb Khris Middleton performance to manage the W against the Suns. Whether its more energy expended as the playoff draw closer or simply some luck, the Bucks are finding ways to win even when they put themselves in a hole, and they dug a sizeable one by turning the ball over 14 times against Phoenix.
Khris Middleton 📈📈
The double-upstock is a rarity here at the Bucks Stock Market, but Khris Middleton deserved it. After a slow start with a few turnovers, Khris put up 44 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, and a steal while shooting 16/27 from the field and 5/9 from three. He was also perfect from the free throw line, draining all 7 of his attempts there. Khris had an essentially perfect second half, draining 9/14 shots and not turning the ball over at all on his way to 27 points in 18 minutes. His turnaround fadeaway with 51.2 seconds left to put Milwaukee up 7 was the dagger, but he added a heat check three to make the lead 10 with 21.6 seconds left on the next possession for good measure. Games like this are why you always trust Khris Middleton, even through the low points.
Jrue Holiday 📈
Jrue Holiday also started slow, but his shooting heated up as the game went on. Jrue ended up scoring 24 points and adding 9 assists, 2 rebounds, 4 steals, and a block as well. Just like last season, Jrue’s three-point shooting has been excellent lately — he was 4/5 from three against Phoenix and also posted a perfect mark on free throws, draining all 6 of them.
Jordan Nwora 📈
It’s hard to imagine a Jordan Nwora upstock game when he shoots 1/6 from three-point territory, but Nwora was just good enough defensively to justify it for making some crucial shots within the arc. Nwora made all 4 of his two-pointers, two of them coming in the fourth when the Bucks were still fighting to hold a lead against Phoenix. Nwora also added 5 rebounds, 1 steal, and no turnovers along with his 12 points, and having another bench scoring presence (along with Serge Ibaka adding 14) was huge for the Bucks. Hopefully Nwora can use closing this game as a stepping stone and build some momentum.
Milwaukee is back in action on Tuesday, as they kick off a back-to-back with a road game against the Oklahoma City Thunder at 7 pm Central.