Could Andre Jackson Jr. Be The Missing Piece For The Bucks Starting Lineup?

Fans and experts are attributing Milwaukee’s most recent win to a change in their starting lineup, which involved placing second-year win Andre Jackson Jr. instead of Gary Trent Jr. in Thursday evening’s 123-100 win against the Jazz. The Bucks ended a six-game losing streak with this convincing win in Wisconsin. 

Apart from the youngster’s inclusion in the match, the victory also shined a light on superstars Damian Lillard an Giannis Antetokounmpo’s performances, who fed off his teammates throughout the contest against Utah. The Greek Freak, for example, praised the sophomore athlete.

“He brings energy,” he said of Jackson’s game, who had 7 points, 4 assists, 4 steals and 3 rebounds in 28 minutes. “He plays his ass off, guards the best player. We play faster. He was incredible today. We definitely need that. We need that spark. We need to play with that energy.”

Doc Rivers: Andre Jackson Jr. did everything we asked him to do as a starter vs. Jazz #AndreJacksonJr #DocRivers #MilwaukeeBucks https://t.co/DPAkjgFijn

— TalkBasket (@TalkBasket) November 8, 2024

Even though the Bucks have been improving game by game, it hadn’t been translating into victories, which just made Thursday’s display so important. “We needed it bad, desperately,” Lillard shared postgame. “It was important for us to not only get off that six-game losing streak, but to feel something good.”

With last night’s game, the Milwaukee squad enter a stretch of five matches in seven night for them, as they now hold a 2-6 record. The Wisconsin club will begin this stretch on the road this Friday night, as they face the Knicks at the Madison Square Garden, before returning home to receive the Celtics on Sunday.

“Going into this next stretch of games, it was important for us to get back in the win column,” Dame said. “Not just win a game, but do a lot of things we can have some carry-over with. We do a lot of the things we did tonight against any team with the pace we did it at and the energy we did it with, I think we’ll have success.”

Jackson Jr., who is about to turn 23 years of age, has been seeing his minutes increase steadily. Through the first two games of the 2024-25 campaign he only played a single minute, until he improved to a season-high 24:55 on Monday against the Cavaliers.

The Milwaukee coach praised Jackson Jr. after the game and said that he had done everything that was needed from him as a starter

Before the start of last night’s match, Doc Rivers anticipated what Andre could bring to the table. “We keep looking for that position just to be a good role player,” the Bucks coach said. “[We want Andre to] just be an athlete. Be quick to the ball. Defend, understand your role.”

Even though the veteran tactician didn’t commit to this lineup change, he did say that it could serve as a wake up call for Trent, who has been struggling during his first seven contests of the season, dropping in only 28% of his shots from the field and 23% from range. “I’m just trying to give him room to breathe,” he said. “And get out of his little thing because I know he will.”

Another one who returned to the team’s lineup after missing a game due to a right adductor strain was Giannis, who added 16 rebounds to the win. “It feels, it feels great,” Antetokounmpo said about the win which ended their longest-losing streak in almost a decade.

“Another one tomorrow. I think we all will try to remember how it feels when you lose, so we don’t go back there,” the forward said, as he’s expected to play in New York. “To be able to set the tone, especially in the first and third quarter. Ball was moving. Guys were defending. We were able to play good basketball.”