Johnson\u2019s Breakout Season at Risk![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/GettyImages-2262885758.jpg\"\/)
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Before exiting, Johnson recorded five points, three rebounds and two steals in roughly five and a half minutes. The 23-year-old is averaging 23.4 points, 10.8 rebounds and 8.1 assists this season and emerged earned his first All-Star selection by evolving into one of the league\u2019s most versatile forwards.<\/p>\n
Between both the injury issues and the eventual trade of former All-Star guard Trae Young, Johnson’s inevitable rise puts him right at the forefront of the Hawks retooling with him as the new face of the franchise.<\/p>\n
Now, the Hawks must wait for further evaluation before Thursday\u2019s rematch against Washington. Hip flexor injuries can linger, especially for players who rely on explosion and downhill pressure. Atlanta cannot afford to rush him back. For their playoff hopes, this nagging injury could be problematic. Luckily for them, despite not having their own NBA<\/a> Draft pick this offseason, they do own the New Orleans Pelicans’ pick which is projected to be top-5. <\/p>\n Kuminga Rises to the Occasion Johnson\u2019s absence opened the door for Jonathan Kuminga, who delivered a season-high 27 points in his Hawks debut after arriving from Golden State at the trade deadline. His scoring punch helped Atlanta secure the 21-point victory.<\/p>\n That performance offers short-term optimism. However, Kuminga replacing Johnson\u2019s all-around production is a different challenge.<\/p>\n Atlanta\u2019s playoff push now hinges on medical clarity. If Johnson misses time, the margin for error shrinks dramatically. The Hawks can survive one night without their All-Star. Surviving multiple weeks is another story.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Johnson suffered the injury in the first quarter and did not return after being evaluated by the Hawks\u2019…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":624788,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3776],"tags":[676,208,3874,7,473,677,2990,867,121,6,468],"class_list":{"0":"post-624787","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-atlanta-hawks","8":"tag-atlanta","9":"tag-atlanta-hawks","10":"tag-atlantahawks","11":"tag-basketball","12":"tag-charlotte-hornets","13":"tag-hawks","14":"tag-jalen-johnson","15":"tag-jonathan-kuminga","16":"tag-milwaukee-bucks","17":"tag-nba","18":"tag-washington-wizards"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116133488173922525","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/624787","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=624787"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/624787\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/624788"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=624787"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=624787"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=624787"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/GettyImages-2262893016.jpg\"\/)
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