MILWAUKEE BUCKS

Break is over; Bucks prepare for playoff push

Charles F. Gardner
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

ST. FRANCIS – It was time to go back to work Wednesday night.

Guard Khris Middleton is back with the Bucks after missing four months with a hamstring injury and could play a key part in the Bucks push for the playoffs.

The Milwaukee Bucks players returned from the all-star break and vowed they were ready to make an all-out push for an Eastern Conference playoff spot during the season's final 27 games.

Despite a long losing stretch that dropped them out of playoff position and a season-ending knee injury suffered by Jabari Parker, the Bucks have reasons to believe.

Khris Middleton has returned from the hamstring injury that sidelined him four months and the Bucks won three in a row before the break.

“We know everything steps up in the run home,” Bucks guard Matthew Dellavedova said. “Everybody is either racing to make the playoffs or they’re racing for seeding.”

Dellavedova played the past three seasons with Cleveland, a team that won the Eastern Conference the last two years and reached the NBA Finals twice (winning the title last season).

But he said there are some similarities.

“The mindset is pretty much the same,” Dellavedova said. “You need to keep getting better every day and make sure you bring it every night."

The Bucks (25-30) likely will have to win at least 15 or 16 games to make the postseason, and they will be battling with Detroit, Chicago and Miami for one of the final berths in the Eastern Conference.

They trail the Pistons (27-30) by one game for the eighth and final conference playoff spot.

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Bucks rookie Malcolm Brogdon said having Middleton back provides a big lift, particularly after Parker’s loss.

“I think Khris is getting back to 100% and getting back to total rhythm,” Brogdon said. “I think we’ll go as he and Giannis really go.

“We’re a team; we all contribute. But those are our guys right now. I think we have a chance to really make a push in the playoffs.”

Bucks coach Jason Kidd, tanned and rested after spending his break in Mexico, said the team responded well in its first practice after the week off.

“You’ve got to try to work back slowly,” Kidd said. “We did a lot of running, a lot of playing.

“With that much time off, you want to get guys up and down the court. We worked on our defensive stuff and got some shooting (done).”

Milwaukee plays eight of its first 10 games after the break at home. The Bucks play Utah at home on Friday night and host Phoenix on Sunday afternoon.

“It’s kind of like the beginning of the season; we were home a lot,” Kidd said. “For us to make this push to make the playoffs, we’ve got to protect home.”

Kidd said he intends to keep rookie Thon Maker in the lineup as the starting center and will restrict Middleton's minutes. Middleton has moved up from a 16-minute limit to 25 minutes or so.

“What he did for us down the stretch (at Brooklyn) was what we saw last year," Kidd said.

“We’re very comfortable with Khris having the ball in a two-man game with Moose (Greg Monroe) or finding the open guy. That’s who Khris is. To be out of the game for so long and in his third game, we’re playing through him.”

Kidd said it was somewhat of “a trade” to get Middleton back but lose Parker.

“We’re going to miss Jabari,” Kidd said. “But being able to have Khris on the floor and the way he’s playing after his injury is a plus for us.”

Bucks playmaker Giannis Antetokounmpo, who scored 30 points for the Eastern Conference team as an all-star starter Sunday, is focused on the stretch run now.

“Before the break we won three games in a row and we built momentum,” Antetokounmpo said. “We were playing great team basketball.

“Now coming back from the break, we’ve got to get there. It’s hard because we had six days off. You’ve got to get your legs going again.

“Jabari went down. Thank God Khris came back. We can’t think Khris is going to pick us up and we’re going to win 20 games out of 27. It’s just great having him back.

“Game by game, he’s going to help us more and more. Everybody knows Khris is a great player.”

Quiet so far: All appears quiet on the Bucks front as far as Thursday's 2 p.m. league trade deadline.

Milwaukee made a deal Feb. 2, sending Miles Plumlee and his four-year, $50 million contract to Charlotte for Roy Hibbert (expiring deal) and Spencer Hawes (player option at $6 million for next season). Neither player has taken the court for the Bucks.

"We're very confident with the guys that we have," Kidd said. "I don't see anything changing.

"But things can change quickly in this league, and that's just the nature of the business."