The Atlanta Hawks’ 141-133 victory against the Chicago Bulls on Thursday night improved their record to 16-15 and positioned themselves as the No. 7 seed in the Eastern Conference.

In an incredible sequence of events, Atlanta’s budding star forward Jalen Johnson scored 30 points and grabbed 15 rebounds while shooting 68.8% from the field to lead his group back from a 21-point deficit.

Atlanta trailed by 17 points as the buzzer sounded to end the third quarter, but the Hawks’ 50 fourth-quarter points ended up propelling the team to victory in stunning fashion.

In the post-game media scrum, Atlanta’s head coach Quin Snyder made sure to attribute much of the spark needed to make such a remarkable comeback to the 23-year-old Johnson and his mix of scoring and facilitating skills.

“I’ve talked a lot about his reads, when he has the ball, when he doesn’t have the ball, when he drives it, and you saw that in full form tonight,” Snyder shared with media members Thursday night.

“It’s an inspiring way to play. And I think from that standpoint, in addition to him being vocal and talking and those things, his play talks.”

In just his fourth season, Johnson is averaging career-best’s with 19.8 points, 10.3 rebounds and 5.5 assists. This comes immediately after a strong candidacy to win the Most Improved Player award for the 2023-24 season.

Johnson’s defensive impact as a 6-foot-9 combo forward cannot be understated as well, as his 110.8 defensive rating currently ties a career-high through 28 appearances this season.

The emergence of Johnson as a potential All-Star selection has Atlanta positioned to make a trip to the Play-In Tournament at the very least, but their eyes are surely set on capturing a guaranteed playoff berth by season’s end.