BREAKING: Jalen Johnson is Available to Play Tonight for Atlanta

Johnson has been out for a month with an injury

After missing the past month with an injury, Hawks forward Jalen Johnson is returning tonight against the Chicago Bulls. 

It has been speculated about for the past couple of days, but Atlanta just made it official. One of the most key parts to the Hawks lineup is back and hoping to help their turnaround from their 12-17 record. 

An @emoryhealthcare injury report for tonight's game at Chicago:

Jalen Johnson (left distal radius fracture): Available
Trae Young (right shoulder AC sprain): Available

AJ Griffin (personal reasons): Out
Mouhamed Gueye (right low back stress fracture): Out
De’Andre Hunter… pic.twitter.com/ObUzqHpBKM

— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) December 26, 2023

Let's take a look at Atlanta's numbers with Johnson on and off the floor.

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.

He is going to bring versatility back to the court that the Hawks can't get with anyone else on the roster.

Jalen Johnson is available to play tonight vs Chicago / Jordan Godfree-USA TODAY Sports

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 earlier this year. 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 Spur's rookie forward.

Atlanta comes into the game tonight 3rd in PPG, 15th in field goal percentage, 12th in three-point percentage, 3rd in offensive rebounding, and 14th in turnovers. Per Cleaning the Glass, Atlanta is 5th in points per 100 possessions, 13th in effective field goal percentage, 12th in turnover percentage, 4th in offensive rebounding rate, and 12th in free throw rate. Atlanta has three high-level offensive players in Young, Dejounte Murray, and 6th man of the year candidate Bogdan Bogdanovic.

Chicago does not have an intimidating defense either and if Young does play, I think the Hawks will have a good day. The Bulls are 11th in PPG allowed 17th in field goal percentage allowed, and 15th in three-point percentage allowed. Per Cleaning the Glass, the Bulls are 18th in points allowed per 100 possessions and 20th in effective field goal percentage allowed. The only defensive stalwart they have in their lineup is Alex Caruso, who will likely be guarding Young in this matchup.

Trae Young and Ja Morant / Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

DeRozan is the leading scorer for Chicago and is averaging 22.3 PPG, 5.4 APG, and 3.8 RPG while shooting 45.5% from the field. DeRozan is not much of a three-point shooter but can score in other ways and can take over a game. There is a reason he is one of the most coveted names on the trade block.

The offense as a whole for the Bulls is not fantastic. Chicago is 27th in PPG, 27th in field goal percentage, 18th in three-point percentage, 9th in offensive rebounding, and 3rd in turnovers. Per Cleaning the Glass, Chicago is 22nd in points per 100 possessions, 26th in effective field goal percentage, 3rd in turnover percentage, 16th in offensive rebounding percentage, and 23rd in free throw rate. 

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