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3 Hawks Stats That Could Define Atlanta’s Season
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- 3 Hawks Stats That Could Define Atlanta’s Season
(Stephen Lew-Imagn Images)
The Atlanta Hawks are off to a 4-4 start. It's early in the season, but there are several individual stats to keep an eye on thus far.
First, let it be said: There's nothing to worry about. The Hawks have played eight games. That's still a small number.
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Moreover, some of the team's stats are outstanding. The Hawks lead the NBA with 30.6 assists per game. They had 30 assists on 40 made field goals in Monday's 108-104 win at Indiana .
Two of their losses came against the Rockets, who are 7-1. The others came against the Heat and Pelicans. So, the season is going fine.
But it's worth keeping an eye on these individual numbers.
1. Onyeka Okongwu's Three-Point Percentage
So far, Okongwu is hitting just 27.8% of his 4.5 three-point attempts per game. That is...not good.
Again: This is an inconsequential sample size. Let's talk about a larger one. Last season, Okongwu hit 37.6% of his 5.2 threes per game. Before that, he shot 30.8%, 33.3%, and 32.4% from distance over three seasons, not counting his first two seasons, when he didn't shoot threes at all.
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It would be fair to have some concern that Okongwu's career-best shooting season last year was the outlier. If it wasn't, he'll have to prove it as soon as possible.
2. Kingston Flemings' Field-Goal Percentage
There were always concerns that Flemings would be inefficient as a rookie. Through his first three games, those concerns looked validated, as he hit just 21.4% of his field goals.
He's turned it around since then. Flemings is now shooting 47.6% from the field and 38.5% from three, and he scored 23 points against the Heat .
The rest of his game has held up, too. Flemings is a great decision-maker with the ball in his hands. His passing has been on full display, with 4.6 assists in 20.3 minutes per game. Flemings is also as good as advertised on defense .
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Hawks fans should be encouraged about his long-term trajectory.
He did miss Monday's game. The NBA suspended him one game without pay for elbowing Pelicans guard Bryce McGowens in the head during Saturday's 121-99 loss in New Orleans.
It's just 2026-27 they need to be concerned about. If Flemings can't score in half-court sets, he won't be a viable backup point guard for a team aspiring to make a deep playoff run. The Hawks may need to make a trade to bolster their backcourt depth.
Although they do have plenty of playmaking.
3. Jalen Johnson's Assists Per Game
Currently, Johnson is averaging 8.0 assists per game. That's tied for fourth in the NBA. Trae Young leads the league at 10.0 for the Wizards.
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We already said the Hawks were leading the league in assists. Johnson is spearheading that movement.
Johnson has played seven of the Hawks' eight games. He sprained his left ankle Saturday, missed Monday's win, and is listed as questionable for Wednesday's game at Washington.
If he can push that number to 10, Johnson can finish the season averaging a triple-double. That would put him in rarefied air.
We know he'll finish averaging double-digit points, and he normally averages 10 or more rebounds per game as well. He averaged 10.3 rebounds last season and 10.0 in 2024-25, and he's at 9.0 this season.
If he can pull this off, he'll be in MVP discussions.
Although, he'll need to do it for a lot more than seven games.
