BOSTON -- As Milwaukee Bucks forward Khris Middleton prepares to make his season debut Friday night here at TD Garden against the defending champion Boston Celtics, the three-time All-Star admitted his rehab process over the past several months has been difficult following offseason surgeries on both ankles.
"I think this one was definitely the hardest for me, just because I had two surgeries," Middleton said after Milwaukee's pregame shootaround Friday morning. "I was trying to be balanced on both feet, and not compensate for anything because that could lead to another issue.
"So I would say this was definitely the hardest thing to come back from, to just mentally, physically feel fine, feel fit, feel ready, feel confident in everything I have to do out there."
Middleton hasn't played since averaging 24.7 points, 9.2 rebounds and 4.7 assists in Milwaukee's six-game loss to the Indiana Pacers in the first round of the NBA playoffs this past spring, a series the Bucks played entirely without superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo. Middleton averaged 15.1 points, 4.7 rebounds and 5.3 assists across 55 games last season for the Bucks, and has only played a total of 88 of the past 185 regular-season games for Milwaukee dating back to the start of the 2023-24 season.
Heading into Friday night's game, the forward admitted the rehab process can be a lonely place, and that he has spent as much time around the team as he possibly could this season -- including going to every single game -- to keep himself in the best place mentally as he worked his way back onto the court.
"Just not trying to get into a dark tunnel," Middleton, 33, said, when asked what his approach to rehab was. "Having as many surgeries as I have, coming back from this one, I wanted to make sure I was all the way ready to come back, be as fresh as I can mentally to be in a good spot because this is a long, grueling season. I'm going to go through a lot of things during the season, going to get hit, banged up, whatever, to have that mindset that I can still fight through and to keep going."
The return of Middleton means that Milwaukee will, finally, have its trio of All-Star scorers in Middleton, Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard on the court together -- something that has happened a lot less than the Bucks were hoping for since acquiring Lillard before the start of last season. Friday will mark the 43rd game overall that the trio has played in together, and just the ninth time since Doc Rivers took over as head coach midway through last season.
In the limited sample size they've been on the court together, the results have been extremely encouraging, with Milwaukee outscoring opponents by a staggering 22.6 points per 100 possessions in those nine games under Rivers and 17.5 points per 100 possessions across the 42 games and 758 minutes the trio shared the court last season.
Middleton said he isn't sure where his minutes cap would be, saying he'd leave that in the hands of Milwaukee's medical team. He said the focus for now is just on getting back onto the court in a live game for the first time, clearing that hurdle and seeing how his body responds from there.
"That's one of the things I'm nervous about, just to see how I feel when I get out there," he said. "See if I'm going to be ready to throw up in a minute, but once I'm out there, I'll be fine. If I'm going to shoot the ball over the rim, over the glass, whatever, just with the nerves and everything, adrenaline going. So I'm excited about it, see how it performs, see how it goes and just go from there."
Since losing at home to Boston on Nov. 10 to fall to 2-8, the Bucks have ripped off nine wins in their past 11 games to get back over .500 at the quarter mark of the regular-season schedule.