Nickeil Alexander-Walker did not hide from the moment after the Atlanta Hawks were eliminated by the New York Knicks in a 140-89 Game 6 loss at State Farm Arena on Thursday night. The guard called the performance what he saw it as and took responsibility for his own part in it.
“Disappointment,” Alexander-Walker said when asked what went through his mind as the lead kept growing. “I think disappointment in how I performed in the moment. I think overall just how I performed and then how things were going at a certain point in time.”
Atlanta trailed by as many as 61 points in the series-clinching loss, and Alexander-Walker said the only response he wanted was immediate and physical. “The only thing I wanted us to really do was to hit back in any sort of fashion. That was the only thing that was on my mind.”
He said the Knicks made it difficult to get into his usual rhythm. “Credit to them,” he said. “They tried to make tough catches tough. They did a good job of denying out the corners, stuff like that.”
For Alexander-Walker, the defeat was more than a bad night. “At no point in time at all this season were we that bad, but we were tonight,” he said. “And it’s unfortunate.”
Still, he framed the loss as part of his development after a season that ended with him winning the NBA’s Most Improved Player award. “The good thing about it is it doesn’t end here,” he said. “This is something to build on, something to grow from, to grow and learn from.”
Alexander-Walker also spoke about how he processes setbacks after they happen. “I’m pissed off,” he said. “I’m pissed off and I’m going to be pissed off for a little bit, but I’m glad that I have my family.”
He added that basketball does not define everything in his life. “Life does not only exist around basketball,” he said. “No matter how bad we lose, how big of a win we have, success, failure, I’ve been through it all now.”
Looking ahead, he said the summer will be about rest, recovery and then work. “I give myself two weeks and then I’m back at it,” Alexander-Walker said.
He closed with blunt accountability for his stat line, which included three turnovers and a rough shooting night. “The way I responded, three for eight, one for four, five turnovers. Disgusting. I’ll take full responsibility and I’ll be better.”
