Former Duke Basketball Player Delivers Eye-Popping NBA Cup Performance
On Wednesday night, the Atlanta Hawks (14-12), coached by former Duke basketball guard and assistant Quin Snyder, advanced to the semifinals of the NBA Cup, the league's in-season tournament, via their 108-100 road win over the New York Knicks (15-10) in Madison Square Garden.
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And the Hawks enjoyed a notably productive effort by their fourth-year pro out of Duke in forward Jalen Johnson.
He finished with 21 points, 15 rebounds, seven assists, two steals, and two blocks in the contest. According to StatMuse, the 22-year-old Wisconsin native joined Denver Nuggets star big man Nikola Jokic as the only two players in the NBA to tally all of those totals in a single game this season.
Johnson, who came off the board No. 20 overall to the Hawks at the 2021 NBA Draft following his truncated one-and-done campaign with the Blue Devils, shot 8-for-20 from the field, 1-for-5 from deep, and 4-for-6 at the foul line across his game-high 41 minutes of action against the Knicks.
Through his 24 outings as a full-time starter under Quin Snyder this season, Jalen Johnson is averaging 19.8 points, 10.1 rebounds, 5.6 assists, 1.4 steals, and 1.1 blocks. All of those numbers mark career highs.
Atlanta, No. 7 in the Eastern Conference standings, is now gearing up for its NBA Cup semifinal bout against the Milwaukee Bucks (13-11) in Las Vegas' T-Mobile Arena at 4:30 p.m. ET Saturday.
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