Jokic Confronts Lu Dort After Trip; Dort Ejected as Thunder Top Nuggets 127-121 in Overtime
Nikola Jokic confronted Lu Dort late in Friday’s game after the Thunder wing stuck out a leg and tripped the Nuggets center, sparking a midcourt altercation that ended with Dort ejected and the Denver-Oklahoma City contest heading to overtime. The decision and the exchange mattered not only for the immediate game — a 127-121 Thunder victory — but for disciplinary boundaries officials signaled in the moment.
Nikola Jokic Confronts Lu Dort
Jokic said the contact was an “unnecessary move, and a necessary reaction. ” He had been jogging up the floor without the ball after Oklahoma City scored when Dort stuck out his right leg and tripped him, a sequence described more bluntly in replays as a hip check with an outstretched leg. After a foul stopped play, Jokic got to his feet and put his chest into Dort, prompting OKC center Jaylin Williams to come to Dort’s defense and exchange shoves with Jokic as players and coaches swarmed to midcourt.
Lu Dort Ejected, Officials' Ruling by James Williams
Officials reviewed the play and upgraded Dort’s foul to a flagrant two, resulting in an automatic ejection. Crew chief James Williams said in a pool report that “Lu Dort was assessed a flagrant foul penalty (level) two because we deemed (Dort’s) contact on Jokic to be unnecessary and excessive with a high potential for injury. And also because the contact led to an altercation that did not dissolve. ”
Jokic and Jaylin Williams were each assessed unsportsmanlike technical fouls that offset, and both were allowed to remain in the game. Officials concluded Jokic did not throw a punch when he took a swipe at Williams with his left hand; the NBA rulebook treats a thrown punch as an automatic ejection and at least a one‑game suspension, a threshold was not met on review.
Sequence and Reactions in the Locker Rooms
Jokic said he was confident he would not be ejected because “I didn’t do nothing, ” and he declined to expand on the exchange with Williams, saying “it’s not worth it. ” Neither Dort nor Williams were made available for comment by the Thunder after the game. Nuggets forward Cam Johnson, who said he did not see the incident because his back was turned, added: “But obviously, it was a cheap shot enough for (Dort) to be thrown out, so they took care of it. ”
Thunder coach Mark Daigneault characterized the contest as chippy, noting the two clubs “played each other in a seven‑game series, ” are in the same division and “have played each other 100 times. ” He said he did not believe anyone was trying to hurt anybody and that “it just boiled over. ” Daigneault also warned that if a Thunder player such as J‑Will is tripped while running up the floor, the team would expect a flagrant two from that point forward. When asked whether Dort’s ejection was influenced by Jokic’s status as a three‑time NBA MVP, Daigneault said, “I’m not going to answer the question like that. I said what I needed to say a” — the remainder of that reply is unclear in the provided context.
Game-Deciding Moments: Jokic Tie, Overtime and Final Score
The game reached overtime after Jokic tied it with 38 seconds remaining in regulation. The extra five minutes proved one‑sided in favor of Oklahoma City, which shut down Denver and secured a 127‑121 victory. That overtime stretch, combined with timely contributions from the Thunder bench, swung the result despite Denver’s earlier lead of as many as 16 points in the first quarter.
Player Statistics and Depth Impact
Jokic finished with a triple‑double: 23 points on 9‑of‑25 shooting, 17 rebounds and 14 assists. Jamal Murray led all scorers with 39 points, while only two other Nuggets scored more than seven points in the game. For Oklahoma City, Shai Gilgeous‑Alexander, making his return from an abdominal strain, led the Thunder with 36 points and nine assists in 34 minutes but was held out of overtime by a minutes restriction. Chet Holmgren posted 15 points, 21 rebounds and three blocks.
Oklahoma City’s depth proved decisive: role players such as Jaylin Williams, Alex Caruso and Jared McCain made key plays over the course of the contest and helped the Thunder prevail even with Gilgeous‑Alexander sidelined for overtime.
Standings Consequence and Broader Context
The victory kept the Thunder at 46‑15 and two games clear of the San Antonio Spurs for the top record in the Western Conference. The Nuggets fell to 37‑23 and are tied with the Minnesota Timberwolves for fourth place. What makes this notable is the combination of playoff‑style familiarity and recent history between the teams — a recent seven‑game series and repeated meetings — that likely contributed to the chippiness and late escalation on the court.
Further replay showed a side of Jokic that some observers described as frankly terrifying, and the incident crystallized how a single, contested play can produce immediate disciplinary action and reshape a game’s closing minutes.
