The Atlanta Hawks have failed thus far to crack the upper echelon of the Eastern Conference, falling off the pace by lagging seven games behind .500 entering their Wednesday night matchup against the Philadelphia 76ers. For a while, it looked like the Hawks were going to fall to 14-22 on the season, with the 76ers putting up a spirited effort despite missing Joel Embiid, but Trae Young and Jalen Johnson made sure that that was not going to happen.

Young was being his usual self, scoring 28 points to lead the way for the Hawks while dropping 11 dimes in what ended up being a winning effort in overtime, 139-131. But the Hawks wouldn't have been in that position it were not for Johnson, the breakout forward in his third season in the NBA.

Jalen Johnson dropped perhaps the best game of his career in the Hawks' victory over the 76ers. He put up 25 points, 16 rebounds, seven assists, two blocks and one steal, and in doing so, he became the second-youngest player in NBA history to achieve those numbers in a single game, according to Kevin Keneely, an alumnus of the University of Georgia.

The youngest player in NBA history to tally those numbers is LeBron James, who accomplished the feat back on April 14, 2005 in a 95-89 loss to the New York Knicks. James was only 20 years and 105 days old at the time, while Johnson was 22 years and 23 days old last night.

The major difference between James and Johnson's efforts was that the Hawks forward's game was objectively better, especially from an efficiency standpoint. The 22-year old forward shot 8-13 from the field and 3-4 from deep while James missed 18 of his 25 shot attempts and turned the ball over four times.

Of course, LeBron James was the Cleveland Cavaliers' focal point back then, while Jalen Johnson is more of a support player for the Hawks. Nonetheless, filling the stat sheet while remaining uber-efficient is quickly becoming one of Johnson's primary strengths as a player.

Johnson has filled the Hawks' power forward opening in a major way amid his breakout campaign. He is now averaging 15.4 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 3.0 assists per game, and at only 22 years old, the sky is the limit for the burgeoning forward out of Duke.