PORTLAND – The fourth quarter of Tuesday's 121-109 Timberwolves victory over Portland didn't start out how Nickeil Alexander-Walker wanted.
He had a turnover and a foul on Portland guard Scoot Henderson as Henderson was shooting a three. That resulted in Portland re-taking the lead from the Timberwolves, but it also showed how Alexander-Walker has passed an important inflection point in his career.
There were times earlier in his NBA life that those miscues would have gotten the better of Alexander-Walker. Wolves coach Chris Finch saw it when he was an assistant in New Orleans during Alexander-Walker's rookie season.