Jaylen Johnson is posting a staggering stat that has been seen for the first time in the 21st century
Wednesday night, The Atlanta Hawks took advantage of a struggling Sacramento Kings team and embarrassed them on their own court. Despite Tree Young’s absence, Jalen JohnsonThe Hawks led put on a clinic on both ends of the court as they demolished the Kings by 33 points, 133-100, in a game that wasn’t as close as the final score would suggest, however lopsided the game was.
The Kings had so many identity issues that the Hawks picked them apart bit by bit, and Johnson took advantage of the chaos. The rising star had 24 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists while making nine of his 10 shots from the field, and became the first non-center since 2000 to record a 24/10/8 game with 90 percent shooting in the league, according to StatMuse.
Johnson took advantage of the Kings’ paper-soft interior defense as he got to the rim at will and finished almost every time he got there. The Hawks’ spacing and pace also deserve a lot of credit for giving Johnson room to impose his will in the paint.
Without Young, that was to be expected Johnson would be the one to improve the most. And while his scoring hasn’t really jumped out, his all-around game certainly has. He’s showing off his playmaking skills in ways that haven’t been entirely evident in years past, and head coach Quin Snyder knows the Hawks can run their offense through the 23-year-old forward.
With this latest win, the Hawks moved to 7-5 on the season.
The Hawks look to starboard at the ship amid the rocky start
The Hawks are relying on a more defensive identity to get wins amid Young’s absence. Without Young, there are hardly any defensive commitments on the roster. With Nikhil Alexander-Walker starting in place of Young, the Hawks were hammered on that end of the floor; of October 31 (the first game Young missed after a knee injury) they set second best defense in the league, allowing just 105.9 points per 100 possessions.
Johnson and the Hawkeyes will be put to the test again tomorrow night when they face the Utah Jazz at 9:00 PM ET
2025-11-13 06:33:00
