The Atlanta Hawks faced off against the Washington Wizards in Jonathan Kuminga’s debut for his new team. However, all the attention was quickly taken over by one moment involving star forward Jalen Johnson, who exited the game early with a hip injury. Here’s what happened to him.

Why Did Jalen Johnson Leave the Game? What Injury Did He Suffer?

During the game, Johnson was performing as usual, helping orchestrate the offense, before a timeout was called in the first quarter. During the timeout, many saw Johnson heading straight down the tunnel, back into the team’s locker room. He didn’t return to the game, with the team announcing that he was questionable to return due to a left hip flexor injury.

Soon after, he was ruled out for the rest of the night. His next chance to play will be on Thursday, in a rematch against the Wizards.

How Did Jalen Johnson Perform Before Leaving?

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Johnson was solid in his minute on the floor as he continues his breakout season. In just under six minutes, he scored five points, connecting on two of his four shots while grabbing three rebounds and two steals. This is the latest in a series of injury related of absences from the team.

This season, Johnson is averaging eye-popping box-score numbers, with 23.4 points, 10.8 rebounds, and 8.1 assists, ranking second in triple-doubles behind only Nikola Jokic for the year. In the time following star guard Trae Young’s absence from the team due to injury and subsequent trade, Johnson has emerged as a clear star and building block for the future.

How Did the Atlanta Hawks Adjust Without Johnson?

With Johnson ruled out for the rest of the game, the key pieces likely to get more time are new acquisition Jonathan Kuminga as well as Mouhamed Gueye, who have logged solid minutes at the four spot. Kuminga in particular has had an outstanding game so far, going 6/7 from the field for 16 points, also adding two rebounds, four assists, and two steals.

Gueye has been a fine reserve, pulling down seven boards and scoring six points alongside the rest of the team. The main scoring burden in Johnson’s absence, however, has clearly fallen on Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Onyeka Okongwu, both of whom have taken an increased number of shot attempts. However, things aren’t going as well for them

So far, the two have combined for an abysmal eight made shots on 27 attempted. However, this has been enough, especially as the Wizards continue to  show why they are one of the worst teams in the league, with them down by 32 points at the time of writing. Hawks head coach Quin Snyder knew the importance of Kuminga’s return tonight, addressing the media about his return.

“It’s part of development,” he told reporters. ” competition that you’re involved in at a high level is able to show you the things that you need to work on, but we want to win, make no mistake about that, and everybody’s got to contribute at the level that they’re capable of right now.”