Nickeil Alexander-Walker had struggled mightily through Minnesota’s first six playoff games. One or two bad games? That happens. But such a sustained stretch of struggles isn’t acceptable for one of the Timberwolves’ most consistent players during the regular season.
So on Wednesday, after Alexander-Walker tallied just one steal and no other helpful counting stats in 14 minutes of play in Game 1, Timberwolves coach Chris Finch and Co. challenged the two-way reserve wing to be the player he’d been all season for Minnesota.
The 26 year old responded with a 20-point showing in the Wolves’ Game 2 win over Golden State, a bout in which he was sound defensively while knocking down four triples.
“Nickeil was huge,” Finch said. ““We need him. We need his ability to guard multiple guys. We need his size, length, toughness. It was really important to get him a game like this (on Thursday).”
Alexander-Walker said he “embraced” the off-day message from the coaching staff, noting they wouldn’t get on him if they didn’t believe in his abilities.
“You can’t run away from a challenge,” he said. “If God is willing years from now, I can show my son what I was able to do and just a life lesson. When you face adversity, you’ve got to step up to it. You can’t back down.”
All while not allowing the struggles to occupy too much of his mind. Alexander-Walker was 10 for 46 (22%) from distance over his previous 11 games prior to Thursday’s victory. But you can’t will yourself out of a shooting slump.
Alexander-Walker said he had to trust the law of averages to eventually prevail.
“The more that I stress it, the more that I worry about finding it the more that I get in my head about, ‘Oh what do I need to do to get it going,’ the further I get to actually doing so,” he said. “You know, I read a bible sermon that just talked about having opportunity and talent, so to speak, is all God’s given blessing. So you know, he takes and he gives.”
All Alexander-Walker could do was continue to put in the work and trust his game. So, regardless of the results, he remained committed to being on the training table at 7:30 a.m. each day, getting in his treatment and a shooting session, then returning to the facility later in the day to lift weights and shoot again.
Rinse, repeat.
“He works his butt off every single day. He’s the first one in the gym every single day,” Wolves forward Julius Randle said. “So when somebody works like that, it’s only a matter of time before things turn around. He stays true to who he is, and continues to work and has a game like he had (Thursday). So hopefully he can keep building on it, because when he does that, it’s huge for our team.”
In the past, struggles would snowball on Alexander-Walker, who was susceptible to get into his own head at the first sign of struggles. But in these playoffs, he felt optimism was his biggest enemy. He was convincing himself that every single game was going to be ‘the game’ in which he broke through.
But he changed his approach on Thursday, instead focusing on the controllables. He was going to rebound and inject pace into the game, two facets that have nothing to do with making shots.
“I think that’s why it opened everything up, because I was able to kind of take that pressure off of being good on that side and just doing what my team needs me to do outside of just trying to score,” Alexander-Walker said.
That’s part of his magic. Alexander-Walker is a do-it-all guy for Minnesota. His value extends far beyond his shotmaking. Realizing as much unlocks his full potential.
“We needed him to take a deep breath and just kind of stay ready and confident. I thought he had turned down some shots over the last few games. We can’t have that. Everything flows from there for him. His creation and ability to attack the basket. All that,” Finch said. “After he makes a few plays he can be a little bit more aggressive for himself. You see that. … I think he definitely plays better when we have a good flow and he’s not looking to have to force himself into the offense.”
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