During the extended absence of All-Star Trae Young, the Atlanta Hawks have seen Jalen Johnson ascend to a more important role.
The Hawks, who host the Charlotte Hornets on Sunday, are 8-4 without Young since he sprained his right MCL against Brooklyn on Oct. 29. Atlanta defeated New Orleans 115-98 on Saturday to break a two-game losing streak.
The Hornets have dropped five straight and are coming off a 131-116 drubbing by the Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday.
This will be the first of four meetings between the teams this season. Atlanta swept the four-game series in 2024-25.
Johnson is healthy after being limited to 36 games last season because of injuries. He is averaging 22.0 points, 9.7 rebounds and 6.7 assists in 15 games. He had 18 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists on Saturday, just missing a triple-double when an alley-oop pass went out of bounds before he was removed from the game.
“That would have been nice, but the most important thing is we got the ‘W’,” Johnson said. “That pass was a little crazy, but it’ll be better passes.”
Others have been contributing, too. Nickeil Alexander-Walker is averaging 19.1 points and Kristaps Porzingis, the team’s big offseason acquisition, had one of his best games on Saturday with a season-high 30 points and seven rebounds. Vit Krejci came off the bench to score 21 on Saturday, all of them on 3-pointers.
“I can see this group is trying and we’re working hard and we want to be a great team,” Porzingis said.
Hornets star LaMelo Ball dismissed rumors that he wanted to be traded, saying they were false and he wanted to stay in Charlotte. Meanwhile coach Charles Lee must ensure that Ball is used properly as he continues to work back from an ankle injury that caused him to miss six games. Ball is averaging 21.2 points, 6.6 rebounds and 9.3 assists.
“We’ve just seen as his minutes increase and the load increases game after game after game, it starts to take a toll and it takes a toll on everyone in the NBA,” Lee said. “So, we just want to be smart about how we’re managing him and his loads and his body. And I think he’s responded really well. And I think when you hold up a certain while, we’ll re-evaluate where we go from there.”
Charlotte’s leading scorer is Miles Bridges (22.1 points, 6.6 rebounds), while rookie Kon Knueppel averaging 18.8 points. Brandon Miller returned from missing 13 games with a shoulder injury and scored 21 against the Clippers. Knueppel scored 26 on Saturday and had six 3-pointers, giving him 50 on the season, more than any player in NBA history through 16 games.
The Hornets have had problems with injuries all season and saw the issue grow on Saturday when Ryan Kalkbrenner (left ankle) and Pat Connaughton (right calf) both left the game in the first half and did not return. The team is without Josh Green (left shoulder surgery), Tre Mann (left ankle) and Grant Williams (right knee surgery). Sion James played through right groin soreness but scored only three points.
The Hawks were without Keaton Wallace (personal reasons) and Onyeka Okongwu (left ankle) on Saturday.
Atlanta is hopeful that Okongwu can play on Sunday as Porzingis has been sitting out the second game of a back-to-back for load management this season.
