Khris Middleton remains out as Milwaukee Bucks hosted their annual open scrimmage

The Milwaukee Bucks hosted their annual open scrimmage for fans to advance the regular season, opening the doors at Fiserv Forum for free Sunday afternoon – a couple hours before the Green Bay Packers hosted the Houston Texans at Lambeau Field.

Following practice on Saturday, head coach Doc Rivers had only one thing he wanted to see for out of the scrimmage: "I want to see us get off the court healthy," he said. "That's about it."

"These are tough ones because it's a hard day for guys to have great focus. We know that. Hopefully we can turn it into a competitive game somehow. I've always thought guys look at this as a show instead of a competition. And, you know, as a coaching staff we call these 'breath through' days. Just gotta breathe through it and get through it, but get something out of it."

That appeared to be the case, as only Chris Livingston appeared to be wincing and squeezing his right hand after a third quarter foul by Andre Jackson Jr. – but Livingston stayed in the game and hit a long three-pointer afterward.

All-star forward Khris Middleton was the only player who did not participate as he continues to recover from offseason ankle surgeries.

"Day-to-day and we'll know as it (his return) gets closer," Rivers said following Saturday's practice, in which Middleton wasn't a full participant. "Each day he doesn't do anything obviously we get a little more concerned for sure."

But Rivers allowed there is still "definitely" a possibility Middleton is ready for the season opener, but the coach acknowledged now that this point he'd like to see the forward on the court for a live practice.

"We're not gonna just say 'all right,'" Rivers said. "If he doesn't go (live) then we'll wait 'til the next one. I'm really not concerned. It's a long season. Do I think he'll play in Game 1? I'm hoping. Still pretty positive there. If he doesn't, does it ruin my year? No. I think he'll be healthy soon and we'll have him a lot. So I'm not that concerned by it."

As for the scrimmage itself, the Fiserv Forum doors opened at 9 a.m., and fans got to see the 10 youngest players on the roster run through full-court, five-on-zero offensive sets for a half hour under the direction of head of player development Jack Herum. Third-year players AJ Green and MarJon Beauchamp joined second-year players Andre Jackson Jr. and Chris Livingston and rookies AJ Johnson and Tyler Smith and two-way players Stanley Umude, Ryan Rollins and Liam Robbins.

The regulars came out for a 20-minute warmup, which highlighted some half-court offensive work with starters Giannis Antetokounmpo, Damian Lillard, Brook Lopez, Gary Trent Jr. and Taurean Prince. Middleton stood baseline as that group ran through each action.

The three-quarter scrimmage began with Lillard, Antetokounmpo, Lopez, Prince, Trent, Jackson, Beauchamp and Johnson on assistant coach Dave Joerger's "white" team. Darvin Ham's "black Team" consisted for Bobby Portis Jr., Delon Wright, Pat Connaughton, Smith, Green, Umude, Robbins, Rollins and Livingston.

The starters played the entire first quarter, with Antetokounmpo highlighting the frame with a left-handed dunk over the top of Smith -- who was incredulous at the move. Johnson also had a highlight dunk as the "white" team won 61-52.

A highlight to end the night was Portis having Johnson and Smith sing Miley Cyrus's "Party in the USA" and Ed Sheeran's "Thinking out loud" over the public address. Players then attempted half-court shots for fans to win ticket packages, and a handful made the shots.

The Bucks open the regular season in Philadelphia on Oct. 23 and then host the Bulls for their home opener on Oct. 25. The team won't be home again until Nov. 2.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Khris Middleton remains out as Milwaukee Bucks hosted their annual open scrimmage