Okc Thunder beat Nuggets 127-121 after Lu Dort trip sparks Jokic confrontation
okc thunder defeated the Denver Nuggets 127-121 in overtime Friday in a game remembered as much for a fourth-quarter altercation as for the finish. The sequence — Lu Dort appearing to trip three-time MVP Nikola Jokić, a heated midcourt confrontation and an ejection — shaped the closing minutes of regulation and the overtime period.
Trip, chest-to-chest confrontation and timeout to review
The play unfolded late in the fourth quarter when Dort stuck out his right leg and tripped Jokić while Jokić was jogging up the floor without the ball after Oklahoma City scored. The contact was described as at least a hip check with an outstretched leg, and Jokić reacted by getting back on his feet and confronting Dort, putting his chest into the Thunder wing.
OKC center Jaylin Williams came to Dort’s defense and exchanged shoves with Jokić at midcourt as players and coaches from both teams rushed in. It took a while before the pair were pried loose. After officials reviewed replay, Dort’s foul was upgraded to a Flagrant 2 and he was ejected; Jokić and Williams were assessed offsetting technical fouls.
Nikola Jokić calls the trip 'unnecessary' and says reaction was 'necessary'
In Oklahoma City after the game, Jokić was blunt about what happened: “Unnecessary move, and a necessary reaction. ” He added that he thinks those plays do not belong on a basketball floor and reiterated that the contact by Dort was unnecessary. Jokić said he was confident he would not be ejected because “I didn’t do nothing, ” and declined to expand on the spat with Williams, saying “it’s not worth it. ”
Okc Thunder's overtime depth decides 127-121 result
The game went to overtime after Jokić tied the score with 38 seconds left in regulation. The extra five minutes were one-sided in favor of the Thunder, who shut down Denver and won 127-121. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, making his return from an abdominal strain, led Oklahoma City with 36 points and 9 assists in 34 minutes but missed all of overtime because of a minutes restriction.
Chet Holmgren finished with 15 points, 21 rebounds and 3 blocks, and the Thunder’s depth — including contributions from Jaylin Williams, Alex Caruso and Jared McCain — proved decisive. Jokić finished with 23 points on 9-of-25 shooting, 17 rebounds and 14 assists, while Jamal Murray led all scorers with 39 points. Denver had led by as many as 16 points in the first quarter, and only two other Nuggets scored more than seven points.
Officials' review, penalties and the league rule invoked
Crew chief James Williams explained the Flagrant 2 ruling, saying: “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. ” After review, officials determined Jokić did not throw a punch when he took a swipe at Williams with his left hand.
The NBA rulebook states that throwing a punch is automatically punished by an ejection and suspension of at least one game. James Williams said that when officials reviewed the play, they did not see actions by either player that would have risen to the level of an ejection, which is why both Jokić and Williams received unsportsmanlike technical fouls that were offset.
Reactions from players and coach as tensions simmer
Nuggets forward Cam Johnson, who said his back was turned during the play, called what happened a cheap shot: “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 characterized the contest as chippy and rooted the flare-up in the teams’ recent history: “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. ”
Daigneault also added a note about precedent for flagrant calls: “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 pressed on whether he was insinuating Dort was ejected because a three-time NBA MVP was the victim, 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. Further replay showed a side of Jokić that some described as frankly terrifying, magnifying the attention on what had already been a dramatic, playoff-feeling matchup.
Standings implications after the win
The victory left the Thunder at 46-15, two games ahead of the San Antonio Spurs for the best record in the Western Conference. The Nuggets sat tied with the Minnesota Timberwolves for fourth place at 37-23.
