MILWAUKEE -- The Milwaukee Bucks were expecting to be without their All-Star forward Khris Middleton for three-to-four weeks after he suffered a thigh contusion against the Oklahoma City Thunder earlier this month. But on Wednesday night, just a little over two weeks after the injury, he's set to return to the lineup. 

Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer announced the news during his pre-game media session ahead of the team's matchup with the Atlanta Hawks. Middleton will not be in the starting lineup, and will be under a minutes restriction, but Budenholzer declined to give any further details about how he might be used. 

Midway through the third quarter of the Bucks' matchup with the Thunder, Middleton took a knee straight to his thigh, which sent him to the locker room and eventually to the bench for the rest of the night. Initially, it didn't seem like that serious of an injury, but the team announced the next day that Middleton would be sidelined for three-to-four weeks. Per the team, Middleton underwent an MRI on which confirmed the injury was just a contusion. 

Curling up to the top of the key in the third quarter, Middleton took a pass from Giannis Antetokounmpo, then tried to drive right off a screen from Brook Lopez. As he did so, he was cut off by Terrance Ferguson, whose knee drilled into Middleton's thigh. Ferguson was called for a blocking foul, and Middleton immediately came up limping. He stayed in the game to shoot his free throws, but wasn't able to run it off. On the next possession, the Bucks took a foul, and Middleton subbed out, hobbling straight back to the locker room. A short time later returned to the bench to sit with his teammates, but the Bucks announced he would be out for the remainder of the game with a thigh contusion. 

While no team wants to be without one of their star players, the good news for the Bucks with regards to Middleton's injury is that it came during a soft part of their schedule. With Giannis still leading the way, and a deep team around him, most figured the Bucks wouldn't have too much trouble with Middleton out of the lineup. 

As it turned out, they had no trouble at all, winning all seven games Middleton sat out to extend their winning streak to eight and improve to an Eastern-conference best 14-3 on the season. Still, even though they went undefeated, they'll be thrilled to have an elite offensive player back in the lineup.