The Atlanta Hawks are 11-8 heading into a big Black Friday matchup against the Cleveland Cavaliers and Atlanta has been playing the past few weeks without star point guard Trae Young. In his absence, Atlanta has needed a number of players to step up, but none more so than Jalen Johnson.
Johnson has always had elite talent, but injuries have been slowing the start to his career and preventing him from reaching his full potential as an All-Star or All-NBA player. That appears to be changing this season.
The Hawks have one of the best young players in the NBA and he is arguably their best player at this point in time, despite a disappointing performance against the Wizards on Tuesday night. Johnson is averaging 21.5 PPG, 9.5 RPG and 7.0 APG this season on 55% shooting from the field and 39% from three. He has had to step up and lead the Hawks over the past few weeks with Young sidelined with an injury and he has more than done his part.
All-Star leap?
Nov 22, 2025; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; Atlanta Hawks forward Jalen Johnson (1) tries to get the ball past New Orleans Pelicans guard/forward Saddiq Bey (41) during the second half of the game at the Smoothie King Center. Mandatory Credit: Daniel Anderson-Imagn Images | Daniel Anderson-Imagn Images
Johnson is putting up big time numbers this season and is making the case to be an All-Star when it comes time. Bleacher Report analyst Mo Dakhil recently wrote that Johnson is one of five players making the leap to be an All-Star this season:
“If it were not for an injury early last season, Jalen Johnson would have made this All-Star leap in 2024-25. The good news, though, is that the injury issue from last year hasn’t slowed him down.
In fact, Johnson has been even better in 2025-26.
On the scoring front, Johnson has taken his game to another level, averaging 22.8 points per game on shooting splits of 58/40/81.2—all career-highs (PPG included). He is getting to the line nearly five times per game, and he has been one of the main reasons the Atlanta Hawks have been able to thrive with Trae Young out of the lineup.
Beyond scoring, Johnson has also taken his playmaking to new heights. He’s averaging 6.6 assists, up from 5 last season, which is another career high. And he’s taken on the role of lead playmaker alongside Nickeil Alexander-Walker, since Young was injured—and the Hawks have not skipped a beat.”
Just recently, Johnson was named the Eastern Conference Player of the Week after leading the Hawks to a 4-0 record, with all of those wins coming on the road.
In four games played that week, Johnson averaged 24.0 points, 12.0 rebounds, 9.3 assists and 2.5 steals in 34.8 minutes of play (.603 FG%, .571 3FG%, .783 FT%). He led Atlanta to a perfect 4-0 record, sweeping its Western Conference road trip, the first time the club has swept a Western Conference trip (of at least four games) since 1970-71.
The 6-9 forward finished his week posting 25 points on 9-13 shooting from the field, including a 2-3 clip from deep and 5-6 from the free throw line, 10 rebounds, seven assists and one steal in 39 minutes in a 124-122 win over the Phoenix Suns on Sunday, Nov. 16. Johnson, who registered his third straight game with at least 20 points, 10 rebounds and five assists, helped lead Atlanta to its largest comeback with less than 10 minutes to play in franchise history. Down by 22 points (103-81) with 9:50 left to play in regulation, the Hawks, who went on a 19-0 run from 8:21 in the fourth quarter to 4:34, outscored the Suns 43-19 the rest of the contest, securing their fourth win this past week and fifth straight victory.
On the second night of a back-to-back (Nov. 13), Johnson put up a historic stat line of 31 points (career high), 18 rebounds (career high), 14 assists (career high) and seven steals (career high) in a 132-122 win over the Utah Jazz (10-19 FGM, 4-5 3FGM, 7-11 FTM). Johnson became the first player in the NBA since 1973-74 (when steals became official) to record at least 31 points, 18 rebounds, 14 assists and seven steals in a single game and just the seventh player to notch a 30-point, seven-steal triple-double.
In a 133-100 win over Sacramento on Nov. 12, the fifth-year forward tallied 24 points on 9-10 shooting from the field, in addition to 10 rebounds, eight assists and one steal in 24 minutes of action. He became the first player in the NBA this season to finish a game with at least 20 points, 10 rebounds and five assists in fewer than 25 minutes of play and just the second player in NBA history to do so while shooting .900%-or-better from the field, per Elias Sports (Dewayne Dedmon, Nov. 15, 2017).
Johnson and the Hawks began their week with a 105-102 win over the LA Clippers. He recorded a 16-point, 10-rebound double-double in the victory, in addition to eight assists, one steal and one block in 35 minutes.
He is becoming one of the bright stars in the NBA and he is only getting started.
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