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SALT LAKE CITY — Maybe the answer's been sitting on Utah's bench this whole time.
Nickeil Alexander-Walker scored 14 of 16 points in the fourth quarter as the Jazz silenced a Chicago comeback for a 125-110 win Wednesday at Vivint Arena.
The Jazz were in an all-too familiar position as the clock ticked under seven minutes to play. What was once a 13-point lead had been sliced to 4, and the Jazz, for what seemed like the umpteenth time, were in danger of losing another double-digit lead.
Seldom-used Alexander-Walker came to rescue. He hit back-to-back 3-pointers, played tough defense on Chicago star Zach LaVine, and the Jazz's lead was soon up to 19 points.
Alexander-Walker was 4 of 6 from the field, hit two 3-pointers and added two steals in the fourth quarter. It was a performance that was forged in the early morning.
They call themselves the Breakfast Club. It's a group of end-of-bench guys — Alexander-Walker, Juancho Hernangomez, Xavier Sneed, and Jared Butler — who show up before practice to work out, stay after to get more run in and then get even more shots up before the game.
"Those guys are in their 8:00, 8:30 on game days, working out — hard, too," Donovan Mitchell said. "Like sometimes two-on-two, three-on-three, then staying after practice to work out again. They come to the gym, work out and then possibly play in a game."
The shots Alexander-Walker hit on Wednesday? Those were the ones he's practiced over and over. The defense he played on LaVine? He's been doing that against Butler and his teammates.
"Continuously working every day, back-to-back no matter what, just staying ready and trying to get better each day," Alexander-Walker said. "Just the work, and trusting that God would give me an opportunity."
Opportunity used to be something Alexander-Walker used to know he'd get. He was a main part of the rotation in New Orleans where he averaged 26.3 minutes this season. He's only played more than double-digit minutes once since being traded to Utah. His minutes have been sporadic and inconsistent — a couple minutes here and there, and then finishing some games, which had already been decided.
Still, he trusted his work ethic and he trusted some up above who was looking out for him. He felt there was a reason he was traded to Utah, and eventually a bigger chance would come.
"It's just made me rely on myself and trust my work; and being a man of faith, trusting God and what's going to come," Alexander-Walker said. "To the entire staff, the team, again, like I can't be any more grateful for how they've helped me since being here; talking to me — even after games I play like a minute and a half or two minutes, whatever the case may be. They're always telling me to stay ready, telling me to stay confident."
With Bojan Bogdanovic, Danuel House Jr. and Trent Forrest out, the Jazz needed bodies on the wing Wednesday, and they turned to Alexander-Walker. He played 22 minutes on Wednesday, but that was still somewhat unexpected. He even caught himself a few times looking over at the bench expecting to be pulled out. But there was no reason Quin Snyder saw to sub him out.
He was effective driving, he defended, and then at the end, he made some key 3s.
"He came into the game defending," Snyder said. "He's got some size where he's able to guard multiple positions; he was focused on defending. He was playing well before he knocked down some shots."
So what got into him late in the game? Alexander-Walker credited Mitchell.
The Jazz star hit a career-high nine 3-pointers, including seven in the third quarter, so there was plenty of attention on him. That allowed Alexander-Walker to have some free looks.
"I think Don happened," Alexander-Walker said. "The gravity that he pulls to himself, the shots he was making, so they were so hyper focused on him."
At the end, though, everyone was focused on the young Jazz guard. Alexander-Walker may have just carved out more opportunity for himself moving forward.
