MILWAUKEE _ Khris Middleton has struggled from 3-point range all season. With four misses heading into the final three minutes of Monday night's game against the Charlotte Hornets, the career 40 percent shooter from long range slipped to 1 of 15 from the season.
He picked quite the time to get one to fall.
With under a minute left and his Milwaukee Bucks clinging to a two-point lead, Middleton caught a pass from Giannis Antetokounmpo at the top of the key and let it fly.
Dagger.
Middleton's shot went down with 43.5 seconds left, giving Milwaukee room to breathe on the way to a 103-94 victory at the BMO Harris Bradley Center. He finished with 20 points, including 13 in the second half, while Antetokounmpo _ the Eastern Conference player of the week _ continued his monster start to the season with 32 points, 14 rebounds, six assists and two blocks.
While his 3-pointer put the game away, Middleton also came up with a clutch play at the other end a minute early. With the game tied, the Hornets moved the ball into the paint into the hands of Marvin Williams, who seemed to be in line for a layup. That's when Middleton rotated over and rejected Williams' shot from behind.
Antetokounmpo was then fouled at the other end and made both free throws. The Hornets then missed a pair of 2-pointers before Middleton made his.
As clutch as Middleton's 3-pointer was, the Bucks did most of their work in the paint on Monday. As a team, Milwaukee had 56 points on 28 of 49 shooting in the paint, with 28 of those coming in the second quarter alone.
Before Middleton's late theatrics, it was Mirza Teletovic who was responsible for most of the Bucks' 3-point fireworks. Teletovic made 5 of 9 3-pointers in the game, including three with less than four minutes remaining in the third quarter. His buzzer-beater to end that period gave the Bucks a six-point advantage heading into the fourth and put him at 15 points on the night.
Former University of Wisconsin standout Frank Kaminsky led the Hornets with 18 points off the bench on 6 of 8 shooting, including a strong drive for a dunk past Antetkounmpo. Jeremy Lamb added 17 points for Charlotte in the loss.
