Illness forces Bucks’ Middleton to miss Cup final

LAS VEGAS — Milwaukee Bucks forward Khris Middleton will miss Tuesday night’s NBA Cup final against the Oklahoma City Thunder with an illness, coach Doc Rivers said about 90 minutes before tipoff.

Middleton sat out practice Monday but tried to go through the team’s walkthrough Tuesday morning. He was downgraded to doubtful a few hours before the game before being ruled out by Rivers, who said the team didn’t want to take a chance of his illness spreading with a back-to-back this weekend.

“He just didn’t feel good and we didn’t want to take a chance with him being around the guys,” Rivers said. “Just wasn’t worth the chance.”

Middleton has played in just only four games this season after missed the team’s first 21 contests while recovering from offseason surgery on both ankles. He is averaging 7 points, 5.8 assists, three rebounds and 21 minutes this season.