On Tuesday, the Atlanta Hawks defeated the Miami Heat 127-115 as Jalen Johnson recorded his ninth triple double of the season, finishing with 27 points 11 rebounds and 11 assists. “Doesn’t it feel like, and maybe it’s just me, but if he doesn’t play this way, they don’t win,” 92-9 The Game’s Carl Dukes, said as he expressed concern for the Hawks ability to earn wins without a high output performance by Johnson.
“Like he really has to elevate for then to play well or for them to win these kinds of games,” Dukes continued as he shared why he believes the Hawks struggle in games when Johnson is not at his best. “Basically, you need Jalen [Johnson] to go for a triple-double every game and we’ll make the playoffs,” Dukes’ cohost, Mike Bell said jokingly as he and Dukes discussed Hawks seemingly having to rely on Johnson to pick up wins.
“Look, I need Jalen [Johnson] to play like this all the time and that’s easy to say, but the special players in this league, that’s how they play every night. And I’m not saying a triple-double, but he just played aggressively last night. There was a sense of urgency with him last night,” Dukes said of Johnson’s performance against the Heat.