BOSTON – As Milwaukee Bucks forward Khris Middleton prepares for his season debut Friday night here at TD Garden against the defending champion Boston Celtics, the three-time All-Star admitted his rehab process has been slowing in recent months following off-season surgeries Season was difficult on both ankles.

“I think that was definitely the hardest thing for me just because I had two surgeries,” Middleton said after Milwaukee’s pregame shootout Friday morning. “I tried to keep my balance on both feet and not overcompensate because that could lead to another problem.”

“So I would say that definitely the hardest thing was coming back from feeling good mentally and physically, feeling fit, feeling ready and feeling confident in everything that I have to do out there.”

Middleton hasn’t played since Milwaukee averaged 24.7 points, 9.2 rebounds and 4.7 assists in the first round of the NBA playoffs last spring, losing six games to the Indiana Pacers, a series that the Bucks played completely without superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo. Middleton averaged 15.1 points, 4.7 rebounds and 5.3 assists in 55 games for the Bucks last season and has only played in a total of 88 of the last 185 regular season games for Milwaukee since the start of the 2023-24 season.

Ahead of Friday night’s game, the 33-year-old striker admitted that the rehab process can be a lonely place and that he has spent as much time as possible with the team this season – including attending every single game to hold on mentally at his best as he fights his way back onto the pitch.

“I’m just not trying to get into a dark tunnel,” Middleton said when asked how he’s handling rehab. “Having had so many surgeries and coming back from this one, I wanted to make sure I was fully ready to come back, to be as mentally fresh as possible, to be in a good place, because this is a long, tiring time .” I’m going to go through a lot of things during the season, get hit, beat up, whatever, to have the mindset that I can fight through it and keep going.

Middleton’s return means Milwaukee will finally have its trio of All-Star scorers Middleton, Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard on the court together – something that has happened far less than the Bucks had hoped since they added Lillard before the start had taken over last season. Friday marks the 43rd game overall the trio has played together, and it’s just the ninth time since Doc Rivers took over as head coach midway through last season.

Given the limited sample size they had on the court together, the results were extremely encouraging: Milwaukee outscored its opponents by an incredible 22.6 points per 100 possessions in those nine games under Rivers and by 17.5 points per 100 in the 42 games Possession The trio shared the pitch for 758 minutes last season.

Middleton said he wasn’t sure what his minutes cap would be and said he would leave that up to Milwaukee’s medical team. He said the focus right now is just getting back on the court in a live game for the first time, getting over 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’m out there,” he said. “See if I’m ready to throw up in a minute, but once I’m out there I’ll be fine. When I shoot the ball over the rim, over the glass, whatever, just with the nerves and everything, the adrenaline rush. I’m excited to see how it works, how it goes, and then I’ll just keep going.”

Since losing 8-2 at home to Boston on Nov. 10, the Bucks have won nine in their last 11 games and are back above .500 a quarter of the way through the regular season schedule.