MILWAUKEE -- Giannis Antetokounmpo is the Milwaukee Bucks' best player, but when they really need a bucket they give the ball to Khris Middleton.

That was evident in Game 1 against the Miami Heat when Middleton hit a last-second game-winner, and it was evident again on Thursday night in Game 3 versus the Brooklyn Nets, as Middleton came up huge down the stretch to save the Bucks' season. .

"He made a couple big ones," Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said.

After a brilliant start, in which Middleton and Giannis each scored 15 points in the first quarter to get the Bucks out to a 30-11 lead, the game turned into a grind.

At one point in the fourth quarter, it got so bad that no one scored for over three minutes, and the normal anxiety that hovers in the arena during a big playoff game was ratcheting up with every miss. .

With less than three minutes to play, the game was tied 76-76, and it felt perfectly set up for a devastating Kevin Durant run to ruin the Bucks' night.

First, a pull-up jumper over Bruce Brown off the pick-and-roll with Giannis to put the Bucks up 78-76

This wasn't the most important basket of the game, but it was right up there considering the Bucks hadn't scored in four minutes and 22 seconds. 

Later, after Jrue Holiday had put the Bucks in front, and they were clinging to a one-point lead, Middleton stepped to the line for two massive free throws

All told, Middleton scored eight of the Bucks' last 10 points over the final two minutes and forty seconds of the fourth quarter