Khris Middleton expected to rehab knee over next week ‘in hopes of being ready’ for the playoffs

Early in the Milwaukee Bucks’ 105-92 victory over the Chicago Bulls win on Wednesday, veteran wing Khris Middleton exited the contest with knee soreness. According to a report from The Athletic’s Shams Charania, Middleton received an MRI on Thursday and results were clean.

“Middleton is expected to use the next week or so to rehab the knee in hopes of being ready for the start of the playoffs,” Charania wrote.

The Bucks clinched the Eastern Conference’s No. 1 seed with their win Wednesday. They have two regular season games remaining before kicking off their playoff run April 15 or 16 against the No. 8 seed, which could still be any of the Brooklyn Nets, Miami Heat, Atlanta Hawks or Chicago Bulls.

Middleton’s endured knee issues throughout much of the season, but seemed to be hitting his stride lately. Since rejoining Milwaukee’s starting lineup on March 11, he averaged 19.9 points (59 percent true shooting), seven rebounds and 4.8 assists in the 11 full games he played (excludes Wednesday, when he departed after eight minutes).

Milwaukee returns to the court Friday on the road against the Memphis Grizzlies at 8 p.m. EST.