Jokic angrily confronts Lu Dort for tripping him as tempers flare; jokic tied the game

Nikola Jokić and the Oklahoma City Thunder exchanged words and shove after Lu Dort appeared to trip Jokic late in the fourth quarter. The incident ended with Dort ejected for a Flagrant 2, Jokic and Jaylin Williams assessed offsetting technical fouls, and the Thunder winning 127-121 in overtime.

Jokic confronts Dort

Nikola Jokić was jogging up the floor without the ball after Oklahoma City scored when Lu Dort stuck out his right leg and tripped him. After a foul was called to stop play, Jokic got back to his feet and put his chest into Dort, confronting the Thunder wing. Dort’s teammate Jaylin Williams then came to Dort’s defense and exchanged shoves with Jokic as a brief altercation unfolded at midcourt. It took a while, but the two were eventually pried loose from each other.

Replay and reaction

Further replay showed contact that drew angry responses. A social-media replay included the line, "I will now have a nightmare tonight. You're welcome, " dated February 28, 2026. Nuggets center Nikola Jokic called the play succinctly: "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. "

Officials upgrade to Flagrant 2

After officials reviewed a replay of the incident, Dort’s foul was upgraded to a Flagrant 2, resulting in an automatic ejection. Crew chief James Williams said in a pool report, "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 Williams received matching technical fouls and were allowed to remain in the game.

Officials' findings and comments

Officials determined Jokic didn’t throw a punch when he took a swipe at Williams with his left hand during the altercation. "When we reviewed that play, we did not see any actions by either player that would have risen to the level of an ejection, " Williams said, "which is why both players received unsportsmanlike technicals fouls that were offset. " The NBA rulebook notes that throwing a punch is automatically punished by an ejection and suspension of at least one game.

Game details and stats

The game went to overtime after Jokic tied the game with 38 seconds left in regulation. The extra five minutes was one-sided in favor of Oklahoma City, who shut down Denver for a 127-121 victory. Jokic 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.

For the Thunder, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, making his return from an abdominal strain, scored 36 points and added 9 assists in 34 minutes; he missed all of overtime because of a minutes restriction. Chet Holmgren had 15 points, 21 rebounds and 3 blocks. Oklahoma City rallied after Denver led by as many as 16 points in the first quarter, and the Thunder's depth made a difference, with Jaylin Williams, Alex Caruso and Jared McCain all producing key plays over the course of the game.

Standings and context

The win keeps 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 place at 37-23. Thunder coach Mark Daigneault described the matchup as "a chippy game": "These are two teams that played each other in a seven-game series. We’re in the same division. We’ve played each other 100 times. They know our playbook. We know their playbook. 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. " He added, "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 that 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"

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. " Jokic said he was confident he wouldn’t be ejected because "I didn’t do nothing. " He declined further comment, saying "it’s not worth it, " when asked about the scuffle with Williams.

Lu Dort was ejected for the Flagrant 2 foul; Nikola Jokić and Jaylin Williams both received technical fouls that offset. The Thunder prevailed 127-121 in overtime.