By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
Down by as many as 16 points, the Milwaukee Bucks needed someone to step up and halt the bleeding.
Entering the hostile home court of the Atlanta Hawks, Khris Middleton displayed one of the best offensive performances in the post-season after carrying the Bucks to a 113-102 Eastern Conference Finals Game 4 win and grab a 2-1 series lead.
The crafty scoring machine single-handedly torched the Hawks in the final 12 minutes of the ball game and put up a stellar 20-point quarter to finish with 38 points, 11 rebounds, and seven assists.
Middleton’s scoring exhibition singlehandedly outscored the whole Hawks team that only managed to drop 17 total points in the crucial last quarter.
Trae Young was magnificent in the first three quarters and looked like the sniper who eliminated Joel Embiid and the no. 1 seed Philadelphia 76ers.
The electric point guard would drain his usual deep threes, sink his high-arching floaters, and even entertained the fans with his signature shimmy as they built a double-digit lead.
However, after two frustrating timeouts for head coach Mike Budenholzer, the Bucks finally found their spark and started operating on the defensive end of the floor.
Defensive gurus Jrue Holiday and PJ Tucker raised the intensity and did a better job containing Young and the Hawks wing players and went on to combine for three steals and two blocks.
Bucks’ main man Giannis Antetokounmpo had a rough start but came alive in the third quarter and punished Atlanta’s paint with his 33 huge points.
The Hawks put up a decent fight courtesy of Danilo Gallinari’s 18-point bench production but was just not enough to contain the surging Middleton and the Bucks.
A concern for the white and red also emerged as Young tweaked his ankle in the third quarter after stepping on a referee’s foot.
Young would go back to the locker room and have his ankle checked but later on returned with 10 minutes left in the fourth only to watch his squad fall to a driven Bucks team.
