MILWAUKEE — In any analysis of the Milwaukee Bucks’ NBA title chances, Khris Middleton’s durability is an X factor.

There are reasons to be curious as well as hopeful.

Middleton is 33 years old. In his past two regular seasons, knee and ankle injuries limited his availability and productivity:

And yet, in his most recent sample of work — the 2024 playoff series with Indiana — Middleton stepped up when Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard went down. Middleton averaged 24.7 points, 9.2 rebounds, and 4.7 assists while playing 38 minutes a night. This was the three-time NBA All-Star version of Khris Middleton.

Offseason arthroscopic cleanup on both ankles was called a success. “Middleton was walking without pain or discomfort when he visited his teammates in Las Vegas for summer league action,” the Athletic reported in July. He is expected to be ready for the start of the 2024-25 season.

Here are three reasons to be excited about the Bucks’ offensive potential with Giannis, Dame, and a healthy Middleton.

In the 21st-century NBA, the 10- to 20-foot jumpshot has become a lost art. But not for Middleton, a master of the mid-range.

Last season, there was nobody better (see list below).

When defenses focus their attention on Giannis in the paint or Lillard beyond the arc, Middleton can create his own shot and rescue a possession.

As a bonus, Middleton makes 39% of his three-point attempts.

He is unafraid of the big moment.

During Milwaukee’s 2021 NBA title run, Middleton made 15 game-tying or go-ahead baskets in the fourth quarter or overtime, tying LeBron James (2007) for the most “clutch” buckets in a single postseason of the past 25 years, according to ESPN Stats and Information.

In the 2023-24 regular season, Middleton was the Bucks’ second-leading scorer in fourth quarters after Antetokounmpo (7.8 points per game). Middleton’s final-period average of 6.1 points was 23rd-best in the NBA.

For six seasons beginning in 2017, Middleton was the Bucks’ second scoring option after Giannis. Middleton’s usage rate of 24.6 to 27.4 percent — the share of offensive plays that ended with Middleton taking a shot, a free throw, or committing a turnover — reflected his place in the hierarchy.

Enter Lillard in 2023-24 and Middleton became third choice. But while he took three fewer shots per night than in his All-Star seasons, he remained a reliable contributor: 15.1 points, 4.7 rebounds and 5.3 assists with an effective field goal percentage of almost 57 percent.

Antetokounmpo had the NBA’s second-highest usage rate (32.8 percent) in 2023-24 and Lillard was at 28.3 percent. Expect the same this season.

The Bucks will continue to count on Middleton to make the most of his fewer chances. But as the last postseason showed, if circumstances require Middleton to take on a bigger role in the offense, he is still capable.

In Milwaukee, Phillies can achieve their first significant goal of 2024 originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

The Milwaukee Brewers? Sounds vaguely familiar. Aren’t they the team with a mascot who shimmies down a twisting slide after home runs? AKA the Brew Crew? Used to be the Seattle Pilots? Also used to be in the American League? Plays “The Beer Barrel Polka” during the seventh inning stretch? Bratwurst? Robin Yount? Any of that ring a bell?

When it comes to Phillies rivalries, in other words, the Brewers barely move the needle. They were a speed bump on the way to winning the 2008 World Series. They’re the team that signed Rhys Hoskins as a free agent last winter. That’s about it.

Temporarily, at least, that’s about to change. For the next three nights at American Family Field, it’s Milwaukee standing directly between the Phils and achieving the first significant team objective they had when they first gathered in Clearwater in February: to win the division and avoid playing in the wild-card round.

Even though the Phillies have had success playing the extra series, making it to the World Series in 2022 and coming within one win of going back last year, manager Rob Thomson has made it clear that getting five days off after the regular season ends September 29 in Washington is a top priority.

Winning two of three in the just-completed series against the Mets mattered because the Phillies are trying to amass enough wins to finish with baseball’s best record, which earns home-field advantage throughout the postseason.

Catcher J.T. Realmuto said it was like a playoff atmosphere. “These are the types of games you’re going to play in the postseason. These are the type of the opponents we’re going to be playing,” he said. “It’s no secret we love playing here at The Bank and feel like we have the best homefield advantage in baseball. The one-seed is very important to us and we’re going to play as well as we can until we get it.”

The upcoming series in the Badger State, however, presents a more immediate opportunity and more straight-line impact to determine how the teams are seeded when the regular season concludes in two weeks.

Barring a cataclysm, the Phillies will win the National League East, the Brewers the Central and the Dodgers the West. The team with the third-best record will have to compete in the wild card round to advance.

The Phillies presently hold a four-game edge over Milwaukee. So here’s what’s at stake:

• Since they swept Milwaukee at The Bank the first week in June, the Phillies need just one win to clinch the tie-breaker.

• If the Phillies sweep, they’d be 8 up with 10 games left to play. Any combination thereafter of Phillies wins and Brewers losses totaling 3 guarantees a first-round bye.

• If the Phillies win two of three, that Magic Number is 5.

• If the Phillies lose two of three, it’s 7.

• If the Phillies get swept, it’s 9. And the tiebreaker would revert to best record within the division. Right now, Milwaukee is 30-19 against the NLC with just three games (at Pittsburgh) remaining. The Phillies are 26-18 with four at New York and the final weekend at Washington left.

Even though the Phillies took care of the Brewers more than three months ago, it’s worth noting that each of those games was decided by one or two runs, one in extra innings. Also, the venue matters. The Phillies are 52-25 (.675) at Citizens Bank Park this year and 38-34 (.528) everywhere else.

Milwaukee has a better record (50-37) and run differential (+76) since leaving Citizens Bank Park than the Phillies (46-40, +15). And there are two notable reasons for that.

Rookie outfielder Jackson Chourio was hitting .211 with a .592 OPS through that series, but has been raking ever since. Going into Sunday, in his next 81 games, he hit .308/.909. Shortstop Willy Adames left Philadelphia with 9 homers in 63 games and then hit 23 in his subsequent 86 games.

The pitching matchups also offer some behind-the-numbers intrigue. Ranger Suarez (12-6, 3.05) will face Aaron Civale (6-8, 4.57) Monday. That looks good on paper, but Suarez has something to prove. His earned run average is 6.02 in his last eight starts.

In Game 2 it will be Zack Wheeler (15-6, 2.60) vs. Frankie Montas (7-10, 4.49) followed by Aaron Nola (12-8, 3.62) vs. Freddy Peralta (11-8, 3.75). Nola, too, will be looking to right himself. He’s failed to complete five innings in each of his last two starts while giving up a total of 11 earned runs.

All games start at 7:40 p.m. EDT on NBC Sports Philadelphia.

Ernie Quiroz is one of the programmers for Milwaukee Film’s Hispanic Heritage Month film series, “Cine Sin Fronteras.”

He joined Spectrum News 1 to talk about how he and others with Milwaukee Film curated this year’s selections, and how new films help to chronicle and celebrate Hispanics around the world.

Watch the full interview above.