The Atlanta Hawks have made the NBA playoffs in each of the past three seasons, but extending the streak to four years may prove challenging.
Atlanta has a 22-25 record and is ninth in the Eastern Conference. They are three games ahead of the Philadelphia 76ers for the final playoff spot and just two games behind the six-seed Miami Heat.
Jumping Miami would see Atlanta avoiding the Play-In Tournament, where the Hawks have never played.
Trae Young unsurprisingly leads the team in points and assists per game, but forward Jalen Johnson’s development has been key for Atlanta this year.
Unfortunately, the Hawks will be without Johnson for the rest of the season. On Wednesday, NBA insider Chris Haynes reported that Johnson would miss the remainder of the season with a torn labrum.
Breaking: Atlanta Hawks young star Jalen Johnson has suffered a torn labrum in left shoulder and will miss rest of the season, league sources tell @ChrisBHaynes. #haynesbriefs https://t.co/AixmhuvbwY pic.twitter.com/mvBoPm2tBL
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) January 29, 2025
The injury occured in a 122-119 loss to the Toronto Raptors late last week.
Johnson was having a breakout season for the Hawks. In 36 games, he averaged 18.9 points and 10 rebounds per game, both career highs.
He also was one of the most reliable players for Atlanta, averaging 35.7 minutes per game. That was second on the team behind Young.
Atlanta faces a tough situation with the trade deadline looming. Their 2025 first round pick belongs to the San Antonio Spurs, so there’s little to be gained by being sellers and tanking the rest of the season. However, the road to the playoffs will be much more of an uphill one going forward.
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