Milwaukee Bucks' Khris Middleton exits game vs. Knicks with mouth injury

Khris Middleton exited the Milwaukee Bucks’ game vs. the New York Knicks with 6 minutes, 12 seconds left to go in the first half due to mouth trauma after taking several hard hits to the face.

Middleton left the arena to be immediately seen by a dentist.

"Khris was great to begin the game, he was absolutely fantastic," Bucks head coach Doc Rivers said after the game. "You just feel bad for him. The guy just can't catch a break, you know? I mean, what's the odds. You go into a game, OK, tonight it'll be my tooth getting knocked out.

"He's having one of those seasons right now. But that's OK because it can all turn around for him. I thought he came with great spirit tonight, too. Just tough luck."

Middleton was initially hit in the face by Knicks guard Donte DiVincenzo as DiVincenzo went up for a shot. Middleton immediately hit the court and turned over onto to his stomach as play continued around him. As he lay prone, New Yorks’ 7-foot, 250-pound center Isaiah Hartenstein pulled down the rebound and went up with a putback.

Hartenstein was fouled by Andre Jackson Jr. on the play, and he tumbled over Middleton and his backside hit the Bucks’ forward on the shoulder, arm and back of the head onto the court.

Play was finally stopped with the foul, and Middleton immediately called for assistance.

Bucks trainer Scott Faust gave him a towel to cover his mouth, and he exited right to the locker room.

He was ruled out immediately.

Middleton played 13 minutes in the game, scoring five points on 2-of-4 shooting. He also had four rebounds and two assists.

Sunday marked just the seventh time Middleton had played with Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard since Doc Rivers took over as head coach on Jan. 29. It was also just the 51st game of the season for Middleton, who missed 16 games earlier in the season due to a severely sprained right ankle.

"It's hard," Antetokounmpo said of the injuries to the trio. "At the end of the day, Khris got hurt today in the second quarter of the game. I had my hamstring. Before, Dame had his groin. It's kind of hard. It's kind of hard. In and out, in and out, in and out, it's hard. But we've played a lot of games together and you just hope that that's enough for us to be on the same page in the playoffs."

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee Bucks' Khris Middleton exits game vs. Knicks with mouth injury