Ankle sprain to sideline Nickeil Alexander-Walker at least 2 weeks

Pelicans guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker underwent an MRI yesterday to address an ankle injury. New Orleans discovered that Alexander-Walker has a “moderate left high-ankle sprain,” per a team press release.

This continues a string of bad luck for the Pelicans’ backcourt, as the team announced in the same press release that fellow guard Josh Hart had right thumb surgery today, and will miss at least three weeks in his own recovery.

Alexander-Walker had enjoyed a significant uptick in play during his sophomore NBA season. He was named to the league’s 2020-21 Rising Stars list ahead of the All-Star Game last month.

The 22-year-old out of Virginia Tech, selected with the No. 17 pick in the 2019 draft, holds averages of 10.2 PPG, 3.1 RPG, 2.0 APG and 1.0 SPG across 41 games this season (including 10 starts). Alexander-Walker is also connecting on a solid 34.8% of his 4.6 three-point attempts a night. He has seen his average minutes leap from 12.6 MPG in his rookie year to 20.8 MPG for 2020-21 so far.