MILWAUKEE -- Khris Middleton is showing exactly how much the Milwaukee Bucks missed him over the first 50 games of the season.

Middleton returned to action on Feb. 15 and returned to the starting lineup Friday night, turning in an all-around performance that helped the Bucks to a 112-101 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers.

Not only did Middleton drop in 19 points, many of them posting up smaller Clipper guards in mismatches, he also added nine assists and four steals.

Milwaukee's leading scorer last season, Middleton missed the first 50 games after tearing his left hamstring in a workout about a week before training camp opened.

"We missed Khris," Bucks coach Jason Kidd said. "We knew that, but we never used that as an excuse. But we missed Khris. His basketball IQ -- he understands how to play; the mismatch of having a smaller guy on him, being able to post up, being able to shoot the three.

"But we're going to talk about his defense (tonight). I think he got four or five steals tonight."

Middleton had four of the Bucks' 11 steals, and Milwaukee scored a whopping 41 points off 23 Los Angeles turnovers.

Giannis Antetokounmpo and Greg Monroe scored 24 points each to lead the Bucks (27-33), who snapped a two-game skid.

Middleton missed the first 50 games of the season with a torn hamstring and played seven games off the bench. He hit a key jumper and 3-pointer in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter as the Bucks turned back a Clippers rally that had whittled a 19-point halftime deficit down to three points late in the third quarter.

"I'm just trying to take advantage of my size," Middleton said. "I'm a long two-guard and I can play in the post. I was just trying to be aggressive."

The Clippers (36-25) lost for the fourth time in five games.

Chris Paul and Blake Griffin shared scoring honors with 21 points each.

Matthew Dellavedova added 15 points and eight assists off the Milwaukee bench as the Bucks had three players with at least eight assists. Milwaukee's 35 assists fell one shy of a season high.

Paul hit all four of his 3-pointers and scored 14 points in the third quarter. Paul's fourth 3-pointer of the quarter pulled the Clippers within 77-74 with 1:41 left in the third.

Milwaukee rookie Malcolm Brogdon stopped the run with a 3-pointer, ad Antetokounmpo's three-point play with seven seconds left sent the Bucks to the fourth with an 85-76 lead.

The Bucks then scored the first seven points of the fourth quarter, and after a runner by Jamal Crawford, Jason Terry's 3-pointer pushed the Bucks back to a 95-78 lead with 8:51 left. The Clippers never got it back to single digits.

Turnovers crippled the Clippers in the first half. They committed nine in the first quarter, leading to 18 Milwaukee points. Seven more miscues in the second quarter handed Milwaukee another dozen points, giving the Bucks 30 points off turnovers in the half.

"We gave a young team confidence by turning it over," Clippers coach Doc Rivers said. "I think at halftime they had 20 more shots than us. We were shooting 57% at halftime and down 20."

Antetokounmpo, Middleton and Monroe each had six in a 20-2 run to close the first quarter with a 34-19 lead.

Jason Terry capped a 7-0 run with a 3-pointer four minutes into the second period, pushing the Milwaukee lead to 45-25, and rookie Thon Maker's dunk gave the Bucks a 52-30 lead.

The Bucks took a 66-47 lead into the intermission, enjoying a 30-5 edge in points off turnovers.

"That's very unlike us, and it started with me," said Paul, who finished with four turnovers.

Monroe led the Bucks with 16, followed closely by Middleton (14) and Antetokounmpo (12).

NOTES: Clippers G Jamal Crawford continues to climb the career list for 3-pointers made. He made one in Wednesday's loss at Houston to move ahead of Vince Carter with 2,014, sixth all-time. He made one 3-pointer Friday, leaving him six behind Cleveland G Kyle Korver. ... Clippers C DeAndre Jordan continues to lead the league in shooting percentage at 69.8 percent, and his career mark of 67.3 percent is the NBA's best all-time mark. .... Bucks G Giannis Antetokounmpo had nine rebounds Wednesday to give him 504 for the season. He is just the second player in Bucks history to record 500 rebounds, 100 blocks and 100 steals in a season, joining C Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. ... Bucks F Michael Beasley, whose left knee buckled in ugly fashion on Monday night in Cleveland, is making progress after an MRI showed only a hyperextension. "He's riding the bike, he's been in the pool," Bucks coach Jason Kidd said. "He's off crutches and he's moving a lot better." ...Bucks rookie G Malcolm Brogdon lead all rookies in assists per game (4.1), steals per game (1.2) and 3-point field goal percentage (43.5) and is second in scoring at 9.8 points per game.