For all the talk throughout this first-round series of the Knicks’ issues defending Hawks guard CJ McCollum, you haven’t heard much about Atlanta’s top player, Jalen Johnson.
That’s because he has been kept under wraps.
The 6-foot-8 Johnson was the Hawks leader in scoring (22.5), rebounding (10.3) and assists (7.9) during the regular season. It was a breakout campaign for the 24-year-old wing.
That success hasn’t carried over into the postseason. Held in check by the Knicks thus far, he averaged just 19.5 points, seven rebounds and 4.8 assists in the first four games of the series.
He had been inefficient, shooting 41.9 percent from the field and 28.6 percent from 3-point range.
It didn’t get much better in the Knicks’ 126-97 Game 5 blowout of the Hawks that gave them a 3-2 series edge. Johnson continued to struggle with his jump shot and finished with 18 points on 7-for-15 shooting.
“The physicality is much more intense,” Johnson told reporters earlier when asked about the biggest difference between the regular season and the playoffs. “They let a lot more stuff go. There’s not as many whistles blown, so just continue to play through that. Continue to fight physicality with physicality. Learning to continue to do that [for] all 48 [minutes].”
The Knicks did a terrific job on Johnson in their Game 4 rout, limiting him to 4-for-12 shooting and 14 points.
It was a big part of their stellar defensive effort, holding Atlanta to a series-low 98 points, its fewest in a game since March 20.
“I think they just punked us,” Johnson, a first-time All-Star this season, said after the blowout loss. “We just didn’t match their intensity from the jump. Guys like [Josh] Hart, we need to match their energy.”
This is new for him, starting in the playoffs for the first time.
“The challenges that he’s encountered throughout the course of the season, [and] one of the reasons he’s gotten to where he is, is how he’s handled those challenges. The playoffs are really an extension of that,” Hawks coach Quin Snyder said beforehand. “You don’t want to get hung up on whether the ball goes in or not. He’s taken some really good shots, and he’s made some, he’s missed some. The biggest thing is to continue to be aggressive and attack.”