“Khris Middleton retiring will be the toughest day of my career”: Giannis Antetokounmpo gives his Bucks co-star an emotional tribute following their Game 3 win over Trae Young and the Hawks

Following a legendary 38-point performance in a Game 3 win against the Hawks in the ECF, Giannis Antetokounmpo gives fellow Milwaukee Bucks All-Star Khris Middleton some high praises.

For the last couple of years, Milwaukee Bucks have transformed themselves from a lottery team to a legit title-contending team. Behind the All-Star duo of Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton, the team have now been a powerhouse. However, haven’t been able to make deep playoffs run for quite a few seasons now.

This campaign, after defeating the star-studded Brooklyn Nets in the Eastern Conference Semis, the Bucks could very well go on to win their first title in fifty years. Mike Budenholzer’s boys are currently facing a young and fearless Atlanta Hawks team who overcame the strong Philly team to reach the Conference Finals.

After suffering a Game 1 loss, Milwaukee has come back to win the next two games. On Sunday night, the Bucks managed to grab an away 113-102 win. The Greek Freak recorded 33 points and 11 rebounds in the win. However, it was his wingman Khris Middleton who headlined during Game 3. The combo guard exploded for a historic 38-point, 11-rebounds and 7-rebounds near triple-double performance, carrying his team over the line in the final quarter.

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“He’s special for a reason and he’s showed it tonight”: Giannis Antetokounmpo on Khris Middleton

Middleton’s Sunday night’s performance was the second time a Bucks player recorded 30/10/5/5-threes playoff game. The first one to do it… Khris Middleton himself. However, it was in the fourth quarter of the game where the 2-time All-Star shined the most. In a high-pressure Conference Finals game, Khris amazingly outscored the entire Atlanta team 20-17 in the fourth quarter.

Just like the spectators who were watching Khris completely ball out, Giannis too was left in awe. In the postgame interview, Antetokounmpo revealed how he was stunned over the performance of his favourite teammate. The 2-time MVP shared:

“It was unbelievable, carrying the team in the end. He turned the ball over two times and, after that, he was locked in, he was like ‘pass me the ball’ and we gave him the ball… like I told him in the locker room, what I saw today was unbelievable. It was greatness.”

“The day you (Khris) retire is going to be the toughest day of my career… He’s special for a reason and he showed it tonight.”

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Giannis and Khris need to keep up these kinds of performances for a few more games if they want to end up lifting the Larry O’Brien trophy. Taking a 2-1 series lead, Milwaukee is definitely the favourites to come out of the East. However, seeing Atlanta’s last two playoffs series, the Bucks should expect their opponents to come out strong in the next game, eyeing to level the series at 2 apiece. Game 4 will tip-off on Tuesday at 8:30 PM ET.