The Minnesota Timberwolves couldn’t hold their ground against the Denver Nuggets in Game 3. The Nuggets came out to play, and the result was a 117-90 victory on the Wolves’ home ground! But the final quarter saw them nearly reliving the terrors of a past season. Nickeil Alexander-Walker rammed into a screen set by Nikola Jokić, which led the young guard to fall to the floor. No foul was called, and the timeout saw Alexander getting into it with the referee, Tony Brothers.

Soon, Kyle Anderson joined the heated argument. Brothers having heard enough threw out techs to both of them and tossed Walker-Alexander. Mad at the no-call, Nickeil walked off the floor, punching the bench on the way to the locker room. ESPN’s McMenamin tweeted the update, “Nickiel Alexander-Walker was just ejected. He punched the bench on the way to the locker room.”

Watching this had many Wolves fans hold their breath. No doubt this reminded them of an embarrassing incident in the past season involving Jaden McDaniels.

Picking up two fouls in the first few minutes of the first quarter of the regular season finale, McDaniels got frustrated enough to punch a wall in the tunnel. The result was not surprising – a fractured hand. Although Alexander later revealed that he wasn’t aware there was a wall behind the curtain, there wasn’t much he could do. The damage was done and he couldn’t suit up for the rest of the games.

But how is this season’s frustrated Minnesota star doing?

Nickeil Alexander-Walker admits that at this point there are no excuses to be made

The Nickeil Alexander-Walker everybody saw in the locker room was a calmer version of the one on the court. As far as expectations go, the 25-year-old Canadian said that it was more disappointing than frustrating. It was a given that the Nuggets were going to hit hard. That was all anyone had to talk about the past few days. Having set the bar to a certain standard, it was on them to reach that.

“We know how important Game 3 is in a series,” Walker said. “We can make excuses all day. We’ve just gotta be better.”

As for his anger on the court, Nickeil said he could have handled the situation with the refs better. But the circumstances which led to the incident made him lose his composure. He had been trying to avoid screens the whole night. In doing so, it was always his shoulder that took the hit. The Virginia Tech product finally lost it when the ref didn’t whistle for the foul.

Nickeil Alexander-Walker, though, did not provide a clear update when asked if he got a stinger or any other damage. “Right now, it hurts. We’ll see what happens when I wake up tomorrow. But I’ll do whatever it is to get ready, stay focused for Game 4,” he promised.

Hopefully, Walker can keep his promise, because the reigning champion made a promise himself for Sunday’s game. If tonight was any indication, the Wolves will have to do some major destruction to make it 3-1 in the series.