Nickeil Alexander-Walker became the second straight Atlanta Hawks player to be named the NBA’s Most Improved Player when he was announced as the winner on Friday.

Alexander-Walker, 27, is just the third player in league history to win the award in his seventh season or later, joining Julius Randle (seventh season in 2020-21) and Hedo Turkoglu (eighth season in 2007-08).

The honor comes a year after Alexander-Walker’s cousin Shai Gilgeous-Alexander won the NBA’s Most Valuable Player award.

“It’s good to make the family proud,” Alexander-Walker said, according to ESPN. “When you’re Shai’s cousin, a lot of times you get referred to as Shai’s cousin. And so now being recognized for being Nickeil Alexander-Walker feels great. I talk to Shai all the time. … [He’s] my brother and my twin, and I couldn’t be any more proud for anyone’s success. So to know that he’s in my corner and rooting for me the same way. … All of those things really resonate.”

After Dyson Daniels won the award last season, the Hawks are the first team since the award’s inception to have players win back-to-back MIP honors.

Alexander-Walker averaged a career-high 20.8 points, 3.4 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.3 steals per game in his first season with Atlanta. He shot a career-best 45.9% from the floor, 39.9% from 3-point range and 90.2% from the free-throw line in 78 regular-season games.

Per Elias Sports, his 11.4 points-per-game increase from the 9.4 he averaged last season with Minnesota is the third-largest among qualified players over the last 25 seasons.

“Nickeil’s dedication, continual work on his craft, and the ensuing results this season make him incredibly deserving of this award,” Hawks head coach Quin Snyder said in a press release. “He has a tireless work ethic and a focus on improving in every aspect of his game. His game continues to evolve, and his commitment and unselfish attitude as a teammate have also positively impacted the success of the team.”

A 100-member global panel selected Alexander-Walker, who received 66 first-place votes, 19 for second and nine for third for a total of 396 points. Jalen Duren of the Detroit Pistons was second with 254 points (23 first-place votes), followed by Deni Avdija of the Portland Trail Blazers with 135 (seven).

Boston’s Neemias Queta was fourth with 41 points (zero), Milwaukee’s Ryan Rollins was fifth with 33 (three) and the Hawks’ Jalen Johnson was sixth with 21 points, including the other first-place vote.

–Field Level Media

Houston Rockets star Kevin Durant is set to miss his second game of the Western Conference first-round playoff series against LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers.

Less than 90 minutes before tipoff of Game 3 on Friday night in Houston, the Rockets ruled out Durant due to a left ankle sprain. He had been considered questionable.

The Rockets enter the game already in a 2-0 series hole.

Durant missed Game 1 after reportedly bumping knees with a teammate in practice and coming away with a bruised tendon. He returned for Game 2 on Tuesday and played 41 minutes, putting up 23 points, six rebounds and four assists but committing nine turnovers.

The Lakers won 101-94, and Durant suffered his ankle sprain during the course of that game.

In his first campaign with Houston, Durant, 37, had his healthiest season in seven years. He played 78 of a possible 82 regular-season games, matching his total from 2018-19 with the Golden State Warriors.

If the Lakers beat the short-handed Rockets on Friday, Houston will be on the verge of getting swept when the teams reconvened for Game 4 on Sunday.

–Field Level Media

Nikola Jokic has played in enough best-of-seven showdowns in the playoffs to know that he and his teammates can overcome a 2-1 series deficit.

But they better respond quickly, he said.

“The next one is a really important game for us,” Jokic said. “We’ve got to get out there with urgency and play much better.”

The Denver Nuggets will try to even the series at 2-all when they tip off against the Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 4 of their Western Conference quarterfinals series on Saturday night in Minneapolis.

Minnesota has won back-to-back games in the series, including a dominant 113-96 victory in Game 3 on Thursday. The Timberwolves’ big win followed a war of words between the teams that was sparked by Minnesota forward Jaden McDaniels calling out Nuggets players by name and labeling them as “bad defenders.”

McDaniels backed up his comments in Game 3 by scoring 20 points on 9-for-13 shooting and pulling down 10 rebounds.

His next task will be to try to do it again.

“I take any matchup, whoever I’m guarding, personally,” McDaniels said. “It’s just a pride thing. I love to compete.”

Meanwhile, Nuggets coach David Adelman wants to see his players battle a little harder on offense in Game 3.

“We talked about it after the game,” Adelman said. “Our physicality offensively has got to get better. …

“We’ve got to screen better. We’ve got to cut better. We’ve got to handle the pressure much better than we did (in Game 2).”

Any resurgence from the Nuggets’ offense will need to start with Jokic. He is averaging 25.3 points per game in the series, tied with Jamal Murray for the team lead, but he is shooting 40% overall and 20.8% from 3-point range.

By contrast, Jokic shot 56.9% overall and 38% from 3-point range in the regular season.

Adelman downplayed Jokic’s inconsistent results on offense, especially after Game 3 in which he shot 7 of 26 from the field and 2 of 10 from beyond the arc.

“He just missed,” Adelman said. “I really mean it. I thought the 3s were really good shots for the most part. The 2-point shots as far as the face-up jumpers, getting to the rim, these are things that he’s going to do. He had a tough night, and it happens to players.

“This guy has played a million playoff games,” the coach continued. “There’s nights that are poor. I think he’ll bounce back. I think everybody just needs a day to understand that we did not play well offensively. … So, a lot to improve on offensively, and a lot of stuff I think we can build on defensively.”

The Timberwolves are led by Anthony Edwards, who is averaging 23 points per game in the series but also has struggled to find his rhythm. Edwards is shooting 39% overall and 25% from 3-point range, compared with his regular-season shooting of 48.9% overall and 39.9% from beyond the arc.

Guard Ayo Dosunmu will look to stay hot for Minnesota after coming off the bench to score 25 points on 10-for-15 shooting in Game 3. Dosunmu also dished nine assists.

The Nuggets listed forward Aaron Gordon as questionable for Saturday’s game because of left calf tightness. Gordon missed Thursday’s contest because of the injury. He initially was listed as probable for the game before being downgraded to questionable and then ruled out.

–Field Level Media

After being without him for much of the regular season, the Oklahoma City Thunder will once again have to adjust to playing without Jalen Williams.

One of the Thunder’s primary ballhandlers, Williams suffered a Grade 1 left hamstring strain in Wednesday’s Game 2 win over the Phoenix Suns in their Western Conference first-round series.

Oklahoma City leads the series 2-0 heading into Saturday’s Game 3 in Phoenix.

The Thunder will be without Williams for at least a week before he’s reevaluated, a diagnosis Oklahoma City coach Mark Daigneault called a “relatively positive development.”

The injury figures to mean a more prominent role for Ajay Mitchell.

Mitchell was used little in last season’s championship run, averaging seven minutes per game, with most of his playing time coming late in blowout wins.

But the second-year guard made a significant leap this season, giving the Thunder another ballhandling option behind Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Williams.

“He is very even-keeled on and off the court,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “He’s just a guy that is always in the moment — he’s never too high, never too low — and it allows him to sustain a certain level of play and performance.”

Mitchell scored 14 points off the bench with five rebounds, five assists and two steals in Game 2.

Williams’ injury is certainly among the biggest storylines in the series, but the chippy play between the teams has also been prominent.

In Wednesday’s 120-107 Thunder win, Phoenix’s Dillon Brooks and Oklahoma City’s Luguentz Dort were assessed simultaneous technicals after a brief tussle for a potential rebound on a free throw, then the Suns’ Devin Booker was called for a technical when he threw the ball off Jaylin Williams while trying to keep a possession alive.

All three technical fouls were rescinded Friday, though Booker was fined $35,000 for postgame criticism of officials.

Daigneault said the officiating and any controversy around it wasn’t a distraction to his team.

“We’re focused on Game 3 and what we need to try to go win Game 3,” Daigneault said. “… We want to be ruthlessly focused on the things we can control that are gonna help us win the next game.”

Oklahoma City has won 10 consecutive first-round games, sweeping the first round in each of the last two seasons.

Booker is averaging 22.5 points per game in the series, but Phoenix coach Jordan Ott said the team needs to create more around him to help overcome the Thunder’s league-best defense.

“They’re the best defensive team for multiple years for a reason. They have multiple guys they can throw at him. They come in different ways,” Ott said. “… I know there’s ways we’ve got to get him the ball in better spots, especially as the game goes and it’s up, down, up, down, we’ve somehow got to get him the spots.”

Though Oklahoma City has won the first two games by an average of 24 points per game, a home win could help turn the tide toward the Suns.

“We’ve been talking about how one game can change a series,” Phoenix’s Oso Ighodaro said.

The Suns have been without Grayson Allen (hamstring) since the end of the regular season and Jordan Goodwin (calf) since a Game 1 injury. Both went through drills following Friday’s practice while Mark Williams (foot), who hasn’t played since April 14, did not appear to be participating and has been ruled out for Game 3, according to the Arizona Republic.

–Field Level Media