Okc Thunder rally, Nikola Jokić angrily confronts Lu Dort after trip

The okc thunder pulled out a 127-121 overtime victory after a fourth-quarter skirmish in which Lu Dort appeared to trip Nikola Jokić, touching off a tense midcourt altercation. The sequence resulted in Dort’s ejection, matching technicals for Jokić and Jaylin Williams, and postgame comments from Jokić, Thunder coach Mark Daigneault and others.

Okc Thunder finish overtime after Jokić ties game with 38 seconds left

The game went to overtime after Nikola Jokić tied the score with 38 seconds remaining in regulation. The extra five minutes were one-sided in favor of the Thunder, who shut down the Denver Nuggets and won 127-121 in overtime. The result kept the 46-15 Thunder two games ahead of the San Antonio Spurs for the best record in the West; the Nuggets are tied with the Minnesota Timberwolves for fourth at 37-23.

Lu Dort's trip upgraded to Flagrant 2 and led to ejection

The incident began when Lu Dort stuck out his right leg and tripped Jokić while Jokić was jogging up the floor without the ball after Oklahoma City scored. Officials reviewed the play and upgraded Dort’s foul to a flagrant two, leading to an automatic ejection. Crew chief James Williams said, “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 added, “And also because the contact led to an altercation that did not dissolve. ” Dort is noted in coverage as one of the league’s most physical players; the original contact was described as at least a hip check with an outstretched leg.

Jokić’s confrontation, his words and replay reaction

After the foul was called to stop play, Jokić got to his feet and angrily confronted Dort, putting his chest into the Thunder wing. Jokić called the play “Unnecessary move, and a necessary reaction. ” He added, “There is no such thing — I think there’s not supposed to be those things on a basketball floor. So it was just an unnecessary move (by Dort) and a necessary reaction by me. ” Jokić also said he was confident he wouldn’t be ejected because “I didn’t do nothing, ” and declined further comment, saying “it’s not worth it, ” when asked about the escalation between him and Jaylin Williams. Further replay showed a side of Jokić that was frankly terrifying.

Jaylin Williams intercedes; technicals assessed and players pried apart

OKC center Jaylin Williams came to Dort’s defense and exchanged shoves with Jokić during the brief altercation at midcourt. Players and coaches from both teams rushed to the scene, and it took a while before the two were pried loose from each other. Officials determined Jokić did not throw a punch when he took a swipe at Williams with his left hand; both Jokić and Williams received matching technical fouls and were allowed to remain in the game. Williams said, “When we reviewed that play, we did not see any actions by either player that would have risen to the level of an ejection, which is why both players received unsportsmanlike technicals fouls that were offset. ”

Key performances: Murray, Gilgeous-Alexander, Holmgren and limited depth

Nikola Jokić finished with 23 points on 9-of-25 shooting, 17 rebounds and 14 assists. Jamal Murray led all scorers with 39 points; only two other Nuggets scored more than seven points. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, returning from an abdominal strain, led the Thunder with 36 points and 9 assists in 34 minutes but missed all of overtime due to a minutes restriction. Chet Holmgren added 15 points, 21 rebounds and 3 blocks. Denver led by as many as 16 points in the first quarter before Oklahoma City mounted its comeback, and Oklahoma City depth — including Jaylin Williams, Alex Caruso and Jared McCain — played decisive roles late.

Reactions from teammates and coach Mark Daigneault

Nuggets forward Cam Johnson said, “I didn’t see it because my back was turned at the time. But obviously, it was a cheap shot enough for (Dort) to be thrown out, so they took care of it. ” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault described the game as chippy, noting the teams “played each other in a seven-game series, ” are in the same division and “we’ve played each other 100 times. ” He added, “It just is what it is. It’s gonna be an imperfect game. And things, they escalate like that sometimes. I know Lu. I know Jokic. I know J-Will. I don’t think anybody was trying to hurt anybody. They’re just great competitors. It just boiled over. I think it was nothing more than that. ” Daigneault also said, “I will say this. If a player (for us), if J-Will is running up the floor and gets tripped, we expect a flagrant two from this point forward. That’s all. If that’s the precedent, if that becomes a malicious play and flagrant two is the line in the sand on that, we would expect that if it’s J-Will. We would expect that if it’s anybody. ” When asked if he was insinuating Dort was ejected only because a three-time NBA MVP was on the receiving end of the foul, Daigneault said, “I’m not going to answer the question like that. I said what I needed to say a

Neither Dort nor Jaylin Williams were made available for comment by the Thunder after the game. The NBA rulebook notes that throwing a punch is automatically punished by an ejection and a suspension of at least one game.