Milwaukee Bucks' Khris Middleton to Sit Against Chicago Bulls

The Milwaukee Bucks will be without their three-time All Star when they face the Chicago Bulls on Thursday night. The team officially declared Khris Middleton out for tonight's game via the NBA Injury Report.

Giannis Antetokounmpo has been moved from probable to available to play for the #Bucks vs. the #Bulls tonight.

Khris Middleton, however, has been ruled out of the final game before the all-star break. https://t.co/lVQx4ca0DO via @journalsentinel
— Jim Owczarski (@JimOwczarski) February 16, 2023

Middleton has had a frustrating season for the Bucks, missing 40 of a possible 57 games so far this season with a combination of knee and wrist injuries. He has yet to find his footing this season, averaging his fewest points per game (13.6) since 2014-15 with a career-worst field goal percentage of .421.

Even without Middleton excelling, the Bucks are 40-17 and second in the Eastern Conference, a mere one game behind the Boston Celtics. That's largely due to the continued excellence of Giannis Antetokounmpo, who's averaging 32.5 points per game and an NBA-high 12.3 rebounds per game with a solid .596 true shooting percentage. His usage rate of 39.1 also leads the NBA. If Middleton can climb back up to the level of play that made him an All Star as recently as 2021-22, the Bucks will have a chance to win their second NBA Championship in three seasons.

Hopefully, Middleton will benefit from another stretch of time off: following tonight's game, the Bucks don't play again until February 24th against the Miami Heat.