The Atlanta Hawks have been searching for another consistent scorer since Trae Young landed on the injured list earlier this month with a sprained MCL.
They may have found their answer in Nickeil Alexander-Walker, who will try to help the visiting Hawks beat the struggling New Orleans Pelicans on Saturday night.
New Orleans dropped its eighth straight game on Friday in a 118-115 road loss to the Dallas Mavericks.
Atlanta has lost two in a row following a five-game winning streak, falling 135-126 to the host San Antonio Spurs on Thursday.
Alexander-Walker made eight 3-pointers and scored a career-high 38 points in the loss, while Jalen Johnson added 26 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists.
The 27-year-old Alexander-Walker is averaging 29.3 points on 56.4% shooting over his past three games for Atlanta, which was outscored 46-26 in the second quarter against the Spurs. Turnovers played a key role in the decisive period.
“We’ve watched it and talked about it, turnovers, our offense puts us in a tough position,” Hawks coach Quin Snyder said. “We’re giving up buckets. And then your focus goes, and whether it’s not getting back or having a breakdown, suddenly those things are compounded, and bam, there’s a 10-0 run, and all the work that you’ve done to come back.”
Alexander-Walker is averaging a career-best 19.7 points a game while shooting 47% from the field for Atlanta, which is still adjusting to playing at a faster tempo this season.
“I think there are times when we need to understand momentum to get a better feel,” Alexander-Walker said. “Playing with pace does not mean 100 miles an hour, because that’s not pace. That’s fast. You know, paying with pace has a cadence to it.”
Atlanta enters Saturday’s contest having won 10 of its last 13 games against New Orleans, including both meetings last season.
The Pelicans are looking to turn in a complete effort after their fourth-quarter rally came up short Friday against Dallas.
Trey Murphy III scored 25 points to lead New Orleans, which fell to 2-14 after missing a pair of 3-pointers on their final possession. Zion Williamson had 22 points, Jeremiah Fears added 21, and rookie Derik Queen contributed 20 points, seven rebounds and a career-high 11 assists.
The Pelicans led 63-49 at the half before being outscored 36-22 in the third period.
“They got hot, they got aggressive, and they became the aggressor in the second half,” Pelicans interim coach James Borrego said. “We tried to fight our way back in there in the fourth quarter. But those third quarters are unacceptable if you want to win in this league.”
Williamson played 36 minutes in his second contest after missing eight games with a strained left hamstring. Borrego said the team has not decided if Williamson will play on Saturday in the second game of a back-to-back.
New Orleans is winless in four games under Borrego, who took over after Willie Green was fired last Saturday.
Borrego’s primary focus is improving the Pelicans’ play in the third quarter after Dallas was the latest team to come out of the halftime break with more energy.
“I think (the Mavericks) just had more effort,” Borrego said. “Their momentum started with them making shots, and their defense picked up. We lost our force, our aggression. I thought we found our way back into it, but we’ve just got to start third quarters better.”
