When Jalen Johnson steps onto the court, expect him to have an impact on just about everything. That’s how he lets his game do the talking.
A fourth-year forward, Johnson has provided the Hawks with scoring, defending, facilitating and rebounding. Blink, and the 23-year-old has scored 13 points and pulled down 10 rebounds by halftime to grab his first career double-double in a half, as in Thursday’s 141-133 win over the Bulls at State Farm Arena.
“It’s going to be a really simple answer, but literally whatever it takes to help my team,” Johnson said when asked what he thinks about when trying to exert his presence. “That’s just what I try to do. Even when my shots aren’t falling, something is cut off about my game, something not going in there. And I still trying to be a positive impact somehow, some way.”
The way he has done it this season has been highly efficient. On Thursday, he missed only five field goals attempted, shooting 11 of 16 from the field in 39 minutes. He made all but one of his nine free-throw attempts after using the Bulls’ physicality against them.
“I think he affects the game in so many ways that you kind of get lost,” Hawks forward De’Andre Hunter said. “You don’t really focus on his scoring. I mean, I feel like you really saw it at the end of today’s game. He had a couple assists, couple defensive plays, and obviously he had a couple buckets as well. But I think that’s probably the reason for that, is because he’s doing so much on the court.”
This season, Johnson has shot only 50.6% overall on a higher volume of shots, as he’s stepped into his role as the team’s secondary shot maker behind guard Trae Young.
As the Hawks lean on Johnson to create more for others, his own efficient scoring can sometimes fly under the radar. It may have been Johnson’s first double-double in a single half, but it marked his 17th of the season. He finished the night with a career-high 30 points and a game-high 15 rebounds, to go with four assists and two steals.
“He’s just doing so much out there,” Hunter said. “Other than when he’s dunking on people, he’s not really crossing people over. He’s not doing stuff like that. But that’s usually the thing that gets people, his step back 3s and stuff like that. But he’s scoring efficiently. He’s getting to his spots and he’s making plays for other guys as well.”
This season, Johnson has averaged a career-high 5.5 assists per game. He’s finding his teammates in different ways, like bounce passes to the inside for a quick layup under the basket or lobs up top for dunks.
So far this season, Johnson’s most frequent target has been Young. He has gotten the ball to Young 43% of the time. Young has converted 38.8% of the 3′s attempted from Johnson’s passes.
“Jalen is a connector,” Hawks coach Quin Snyder said. “Good things happen. Whether that’s his ability to get to the rim, doing something for a teammate, finding a teammate cutting for a shot, and it’s huge for us.”
Johnson has his eyes set on some big goals ahead, but he won’t let himself get too caught up in the future.
“It’s literally trying to get better every day,” Johnson said. “I’m big on my work that I put in. I’m big on film sessions, team film session. So just really, just trying to focus on one day at a time.
“I can’t give myself a grade (on my maturation). You guys can do that at the end of the year, whatever y’all do. So, yeah, like I said, just trying to get better every day. Keep stacking wins, keep stacking days, and I just want to make those runs in the playoffs.
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