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Hawks Provide Injury Update for Jalen Johnson

Johnson has been out with a wrist injury
Jackson Caudell|
Hawks Provide Injury Update for Jalen Johnson
Hawks Provide Injury Update for Jalen Johnson

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Atlanta Hawks

Hawks Forward Jalen Johnson has been out with an injury since November 25th, but the Hawks provided an important update to his status today: 

"Forward Jalen Johnson (left distal radius fracture on Nov. 25) has been cleared to return to full team practice. His status will be updated as appropriate."

It will be interesting to follow the next updates on Johnson now that he is able to return to full team practice. Hopefully, his recovery will still progress well and he can return to the court soon fully healthy. 

Johnson has been crucial to the Hawks lineups this year and has been sorely missed in his absence. 

No. 1 is the Hawks's inability to match up with a lot of teams. Johnson gave them the ability to be versatile on defense, something that Saddiq Bey does not do. Johnson matched up well with bigger and more athletic forwards like Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jayson Tatum, and Evan Mobley, and he would have been a useful player to try and guard Victor Wembanyama when the Hawks played the Spurs a couple of weeks ago. Even if he did not guard Wembanayama, he would have been able to guard Zach Collins at center and allowed Clint Capela to guard the Spurs rookie forward. 

Per Cleaning the Glass, Johnson ranks in the 92nd percentile in points per 100 possessions allowed when he is on the floor and the Hawks defense is 8.4 points better. He ranks even better when it comes to effective field goal percentage allowed, ranking in the 96th percentile. The Hawks are a struggling defense even with Johnson, but they are much worse without him and lose a lot of versatility. 

Atlanta is in Houston tonight to face the Rockets. Keep an eye out pregame to see if Quin Snyder makes any comments regarding Johnson's status. 

Hawks vs Rockets: Game Preview, Injury Report, Projected Starting Lineups

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Jackson Caudell
JACKSON CAUDELL

Jackson Caudell has been covering Georgia Tech Athletics For On SI since March 2022 and the Atlanta Hawks for On SI since October 2023. Jackson is also the co-host of the Bleav in Georgia Tech podcast and he loves to bring thoughtful analysis and comprehensive coverage to everything that he does. Find him on X @jacksoncaudell

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