As we get down to the nitty-gritty here in this 2020-2021 NBA season, it would seem as though we’ve seen it all in this 6.5-month span. Well, various aspects of Game 4 would beg to differ, and it was one for the books to say the least.
Bucks 109, Suns 103 (series tied 2-2)
The Bucks were not making their shots at a high clip by any means tonight, shooting just 40.2% from the field and 24.1% from downtown. However, they got going in other ways, highlighted by the inversely correlated offensive rebound to turnover ratio – Milwaukee had 17 offensive rebounds and turned it over just five times, while Phoenix had just five rebounds on the offensive end and turned it over 17 times. While plenty of other variables go into the deciding factor of a basketball game, the major discrepancy in these two categories speaks volumes on its own.
After combining for just 29 points in Games 2 and 3, Khris Middleton came to play in Game 4 on Wednesday evening, scoring a playoff career-high 40 points to go with six rebounds, four assists, two steals and three 3-pointers in 43 minutes. He was especially invisible in Game 2, and it’s no secret that when Middleton plays well (especially down the stretch), the Bucks are a much better basketball team. In fact, he outscored the entire Phoenix team by a margin of 10-4 in the last 2:15 of Game 4, so saying Middleton was clutch could arguably be an understatement.
