What we learned from the Milwaukee Bucks' 118-109 win over the Chicago Bulls

Bucks rookie Andre Jackson Jr. celebrated his birthday by giving his team crucial contributions.

Jonas Panerio | Nov 14, 2023

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The Milwaukee Bucks ended a two-game slump on Monday night after defeating the Chicago Bulls, 118-109, at the Fiserv Forum. The win propped the Bucks’ record up to 6-4 and sent the Bulls down to 4-7. Here are a couple of key takeaways from the hard-earned win.

Andre Jackson Jr. steps up

On a night when he was presented with his NCAA championship ring, rookie wingman Andre Jackson Jr. showed his readiness to help the Bucks’ cause. While his numbers were hardly noteworthy (five points and three rebounds in 13 minutes), his impact certainly was as he gave Milwaukee the jolt they needed when the Bulls stormed back to take the lead after being down by 17.

With Chicago taking a 68-67 lead with five minutes left in the third, Jackson grabbed two offensive rebounds that led to four points and made a 13-foot floater in a 14-2 run that put Milwaukee up 81-70.

Jackson, who was celebrating his birthday on Tuesday, also played stout defense on Chicago’s wingmen, DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine, doing his part to hold the duo to a miserable shooting night (8-of-33).

Big buckets from the birthday boy. pic.twitter.com/XMcjsNwLkg
— Milwaukee Bucks (@Bucks) November 14, 2023

Dame is back

Damian Lillard also made his return from a two-game absence and produced 12 points and five assists. However, he struggled to find his form against the Bulls, making just three of his 17 attempts from the floor. He also missed eight of his nine tries from three-point land. And while the seven-time All-Star had five dimes, he also committed five turnovers.

Still, Lillard was glad to be out there on the floor with the Bucks.

“I felt pretty good,” Lillard said. “If I didn't feel good enough to play, I wouldn't have played. But I think any time you miss time, especially when you're already kind of behind, to begin with, it's going to have some sort of effect. But given the circumstances, I felt pretty good.”