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MINNEAPOLIS — Nickeil Alexander-Walker was seen as a throw-in addition to the trade that sent Mile Conley to the Minnesota Timberwolves in February.
On Thursday, he seemed to be asking his old team, "Remember me?"
Alexander-Walker had 20 points, seven assists and five steals as the Timberwolves ran away from Utah for a 101-90 win.
"Nickiel is a very good player," Jazz coach Will Hardy said. "He's really turned his identity into being a perimeter defender first and he was able to pressure the ball, he was very disruptive getting through screens. I've had the pleasure of coaching Nickeil. He's a wonderful human being and works his butt off every single day.
"I thought that his intensity on the perimeter defensively, he sort of set the stage for their defense, and he made some shots on top of that on the offensive end, but I feel like his impact — although he's a talented, skilled offensive player — his impact is felt very, very much when he's on the defensive side of the ball."
That said, with Minnesota without All-Star Anthony Edwards, who sat out Thursday with a hip contusion, his offensive contributions were needed. The former Jazz guard took on a more prominent role in the Minnesota offense and made it so Edwards wasn't missed too much.
Minnesota was fine without its top offensive weapon; the same could not be said for the Jazz. Utah was without Lauri Markkanen, who didn't go on the short two-game trip to rest his strained hamstring, and Jordan Clarkson, who sat out with a thigh contusion.
Their absence was felt. The Jazz shot 38% from the field and failed to score 25 or more points in any quarter. The 90 points were a season-low for Utah — just beating out Wednesday's similarly bad performance in Memphis.
The final three quarters were especially dreadful for the Jazz.
Utah took a 35-23 lead at the 8:50 mark of the second quarter after a Kelly Olynyk 3-pointer. It took over four minutes for the Jazz to score again. By then, Minnesota had rolled off 15 straight points to take the lead and set the tone for the rest of the game. Minnesota outscored the Jazz 35-19 in the third quarter.
"Tonight, we ultimately just struggled to put the ball in the basket," Hardy said. "Minnesota is one of the best defensive teams in the league for a reason. Their size around the basket, their length from the perimeter, they did a really good job of being disruptive tonight."
The Timberwolves had two former Jazz players — Alexander-Walker and Rudy Gobert — for that. Gobert had 15 points, 13 rebounds and three blocks Thursday.
Utah had an offensive rating — points per 100 possessions — of 94. How bad was that? Considering Portland has the worst offense in the league this season with a 105 offensive rating, pretty bad.
Funny enough, the Jazz also had one of their better defensive performances of the season and were especially stingy in the halfcourt. That helped Utah get out to the hot start and kept the Jazz from completely giving up the rope. In the end, though, it was Utah's second straight loss as it dropped to 6-13 on the season and 1-9 on the road.
"I think there were a lot of moments in this game where we played some good basketball and ultimately weren't able to make enough shots," Hardy said. "I think if we told ourselves before tonight's game that we're going to come in here and hold them to 101 points on the road, you feel like that gives you a really good chance to win a game. So it's time to get home and get back to work."
