Nothing that happened in the first half indicated Milwaukee’s Khris Middleton had a scoring flurry coming.
The Bucks guard-forward had a quiet five points and a loud five turnovers by halftime.
Middleton scored 16 of his 23 third-quarter points in a four-minute stretch of the third as the Bucks extended a two-point lead into a 19-point margin against the Atlanta Hawks.
That was too much for the Hawks to overcome even at home and even with Trae Young playing after missing the two previous games with a bone bruise in his right foot.
Milwaukee defeated Atlanta 118-107 in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals, earning a spot in the NBA Finals against the Phoenix Suns.
“Just want to win,” Middleton said. “That’s all it is. I don’t care how many points I have. Stats go out the window. Even thought I had a great third quarter, I told Jrue (Holiday) I was struggling (earlier in the game). ‘You’ve got to get the ball and make something happen because right now I just don’t have it.’
