Nuggets Vs Thunder: Shai’s return and Jokic-Dort altercation decide OT classic

The Nuggets vs Thunder matchup produced a dramatic overtime finish and a flashpoint that overshadowed much of the action. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander returned from a nine-game absence to score 36 as the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Denver Nuggets 127-121 in overtime, while a trip by Luguentz Dort on Nikola Jokic led to a flagrant-two ejection and a midcourt altercation.

How the altercation began: Dort trips Jokic at midcourt

Oklahoma City had just scored when Nikola Jokic was jogging up the floor and Luguentz Dort stuck out his right leg, tripping him. officials initially called a common foul. Jokic got back to his feet and immediately confronted Dort, putting his chest into the Thunder wing at midcourt. OKC center Jaylin Williams came to Dort’s defense and exchanged shoves with Jokic during the brief altercation.

After reviewing footage, crew chief James Williams said the contact was deemed "unnecessary and excessive with a high potential for injury" and that the contact "led to an altercation that did not dissolve. " Officials upgraded Dort’s foul to a flagrant two, resulting in an automatic ejection. Jokic and Jaylin Williams received matching technical fouls and were allowed to remain in the game.

Nikola Jokic: "Unnecessary move and a necessary reaction"

Jokic, described as a man of few words, was candid about the sequence: "Unnecessary move and a necessary reaction. " He added that "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. " Jokic said he was confident he wouldn’t be ejected because "I didn’t do nothing, " and when asked about the situation escalating between him and Williams he declined to comment, saying "it's not worth it. "

Officials determined Jokic did not throw a punch when he took a swipe at Williams with his left hand. The NBA rulebook treats a punch as an action automatically punished by an ejection and a suspension of at least one game. James Williams said the review did not show actions by either player that rose to the level of an ejection, which is why both players received unsportsmanlike technical fouls that were offset.

Nuggets and Thunder reactions: coaches and teammates weigh in

Neither Dort nor Jaylin Williams were made available for comment by the Thunder after the game. Nuggets forward Cam Johnson said, "I didn’t see it because my back was turned at the time, " and 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 called the matchup "a chippy game, " noting the teams had met in a seven-game series, are in the same division and have "played each other 100 times. " He said, "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 added a practical line on precedent: "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 about whether Dort was ejected because Jokic was the victim, Daigneault said, "I’m not going to answer the question like that. I said what I needed to say about it. " Nuggets coach David Adelman said in his postgame news conference that he still needed to rewatch the incident.

Nuggets vs Thunder — Shai’s return, Caruso and closing sequence

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander returned from an abdominal strain that had sidelined him since 3 February and missed nine games, and he marked the comeback with 36 points in 34 minutes. The 27-year-old, the NBA's reigning Most Valuable Player, opened his account with a layup before being assessed an early technical foul for throwing the ball at Nikola Jokic after Jokic made contact with him following a stoppage.

Alex Caruso guided the Thunder down the stretch; his drive in the final seconds of regulation bounced off the rim at the buzzer and sent the game to overtime. Oklahoma City scored the first five points in the extra period and held on for the 127-121 victory, a result that gave the Thunder their sixth win in their past eight games and kept them a two-game lead over the San Antonio Spurs atop the Western Conference.

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Across a game marked by Shai’s timely return and a heated midcourt confrontation precipitated by Dort’s trip on Jokic, the Nuggets vs Thunder contest combined playoff-tinged intensity and late-game drama before finishing in overtime.