Bucks' Khris Middleton (ankle) sitting out second leg Thursday

Milwaukee Bucks guard/forward Khris Middleton (left ankle injury management) is out for Thursday's game against the Brooklyn Nets.

What It Means:

Middleton, who started the past two games in place of Giannis Antetokounmpo (hamstring), will take a seat for the second leg of the Bucks' back-to-back. If Antetokounmpo is ruled out again, Bobby Portis could replace Middleton in the starting lineup. Jae Crowder, Pat Connaughton, and Danilo Gallinari are other candidates for more work.

numberFire's models project Portis for 23.3 minutes and 23.8 FanDuel points on Thursday if Giannis is active. Per our NBA Heat Map, the Bucks' implied total (115.0) is No. 3 out of 12 teams on the Main slate today.