Playing on the front end of a back-to-back, the Minnesota Timberwolves were entering their game against the Phoenix Suns shorthanded. Head coach Chris Finch was without Naz Reid with an illness and Donte DiVincenzo with an injury. As it turns out, Minnesota needed everybody they had available.
That included former Virginia Tech standout Nickeil Alexander-Walker, who left the Timberwolves' previous game on Monday night against the Atlanta Hawks in a 100-92 victory with a lower-leg contusion. He was able to play 48 hours later and helped Minnesota pick up a key road win over the Phoenix Suns.
Nickeil Alexander-Walker’s fourth-quarter scoring blitz powered Minnesota over Phoenix
It was the usual stars for Minnesota that led them in scoring against Phoneix with Anthony Edwards dropping 33 points and Julius Randle having 28, but it was Alexander-Walker’s four quarter that allowed Minnesota to hold off a late Suns’ charge.
Alexander-Walker had 11 of his 23 points in the fourth quarter, including a trio of 3-pointers early in the quarter to build Minnesota’s lead to 10 points and the Timberwolves scored 40 points in the quarter in a 121-113 win. He also finished with a plus/minus of plus-14.
Minnesota, which visits the Utah Jazz on Thursday night, needed that win and every win the rest of the season as they are in a battle for a postseason berth in the Western Conference and currently they hold the seventh-seeded for the play-in tournament but are just two games behind the Denver Nuggets for the fourth-seed. On the flip side, they are just two games clear of the Golden State Warriors who are the 11th seed, and would miss the play-in tournament if it began today.
This season Alexander-Walker is averaging 8.6 points a game for Minnesota, which made a run to the Western Conference Final last spring before falling to the Dallas Mavericks. He is also averaging 23 minutes a night in 2024-25 but played a season-high 35 against the Suns for his team which will look to get some players back for a tilt with the Jazz.