The Milwaukee Bucks have suffered a significant blow ahead of their second-round series against the Boston Celtics. According to NBA insider Shams Charania, Khris Middleton is expected to miss the entire second round due to a Grade 2 MCL sprain.
Middleton, the Bucks' second-leading scorer with 20.1 points per game in the regular season, suffered the injury during Game 2 of the first round against the Chicago Bulls.
The team said initially that he would re-evaluated in two weeks, which left the door open for him to potentially return at some point during the second round. However, it now appears Middleton's recovery will take longer than that, with Charania adding that it's possible he could miss the conference finals as well if the Bucks make it past the Celtics.
The Bucks won their next three games without Middleton to close out the Bulls in five, but the Celtics are a much better team than the Bulls, and Milwaukee will not have nearly as easy a time replacing Middleton in this series.
As WEEI's Brian Barrett points out, Middleton was a crucial part of the Bucks' championship run last year and has been great against the Celtics in the past, too.
Game 1 of Celtics-Bucks is set for Sunday at 1 p.m. in Boston.
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