Trae Young may have made his much-anticipated return from a knee injury on Thursday night against the Charlotte Hornets, but the Atlanta Hawks have become Jalen Johnson’s team in his absence and that continued with Young still on a minutes restriction. Johnson, who turned 24 years of age on Thursday, showed out on his birthday as he tried to carry the Hawks on his back as they fought an uphill climb all night long.
Despite the Hawks’ 133-126 loss to the Hornets, Johnson put up a monster stat line that made the game that close to begin with. The Hawks star put up 43 points, 11 rebounds, and nine assists to go along with a steal and a block — barely missing out on what would have been his fifth-consecutive triple-double.
In putting up such a stat line on his birthday, Johnson became just the second player in NBA history to record at least 40 points, 10 rebounds, and five assists on their special day, joining LeBron James in that exclusive club, as per Hawks PR on X (formerly Twitter). James pulled off that feat twice, and in a neat piece of coincidence, he did so against the Hawks on both occasions 13 years apart (2009 and 2022).
Johnson is ascending into one of the best all-around forwards in the association, and the Hawks will have to balance the offensive workload between him and Young once the latter gets up to full speed.
Hawks’ Jalen Johnson is going to be an All-Star, health permitting
Eric Hartline-Imagn Images
Johnson is stuffing the stat sheet on a nightly basis, and even though he’s not the most proficient jump-shooter, he has been carrying the Hawks’ offense with his dribble handoff game, slashing, and playmaking. On the season, he is now averaging 22.8 points, 10.5 rebounds, and 8.2 assists per contest, essentially guaranteeing him a spot on the All-Star roster.
Johnson’s efficiency has taken a hit in recent games (he did go 16-27 in their loss to the Hornets, which is very efficient), so Young’s return could end up being beneficial for him as well.
