Jokic: Nikola jokic angrily confronts Lu Dort for tripping him as tempers flare in Nuggets-Thunder

Nikola Jokic was at the center of a late-game skirmish Friday when he angrily confronted Lu Dort after being tripped, and Dort was ejected for a Flagrant 2. The incident occurred in the fourth quarter and helped punctuate a 127-121 overtime win for the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Jokic confronted Dort at midcourt

Nikola Jokić was jogging up the floor after Oklahoma City scored when Lu Dort stuck out his right leg, tripping him. A common foul was initially called. Jokic got back to his feet and immediately confronted Dort, putting his chest into the Thunder wing. OKC center Jaylin Williams came to Dort’s defense and exchanged shoves with Jokic during a brief altercation at midcourt. It took a while, but the two were eventually pried loose from each other.

Officials upgrade foul to Flagrant 2

After officials reviewed footage of the incident, Dort’s foul was upgraded to a flagrant two, resulting in an automatic ejection. Jokic and Jaylin Williams received matching technical fouls and were allowed to stay in the game. Crew chief James Williams said, "Lu Dort was assessed a flagrant foul penalty (level) two because we deemed his 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. " James Williams added, "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. "

Jokic's comments and swipe at Williams

Jokic was concise about the flagrant: "Unnecessary move and a necessary reaction, " the Nuggets center said. "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. " He declined to elaborate on the exchange with Williams, saying "it’s not worth it. " Officials determined Jokic didn’t throw a punch when he took a swipe at Williams with his left hand; the NBA rulebook states a punch is automatically punished by an ejection and suspension of at least one game.

Gilgeous-Alexander returns from abdominal strain

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander marked his return from an abdominal strain with 36 points and 9 assists in 34 minutes. The 27-year-old had been out since sustaining an abdominal strain on 3 February and missed nine games. He opened the game with a layup but was called for an early technical foul for throwing the ball at Denver's Nikola Jokic after Jokic made contact with him following a stoppage. Gilgeous-Alexander remained on the bench in overtime due to a minutes restriction.

Overtime, scoring and team records

Jokic tied the game with 38 seconds left in regulation to force overtime. The extra five minutes were one-sided in favor of Oklahoma City, who scored the first five points in overtime and shut down Denver for a 127-121 victory. Jamal Murray led all scorers with 39 points. Jokic finished with 23 points on 9-of-25 shooting, 17 rebounds and 14 assists. Only two other Nuggets scored more than seven points in the game.

Thunder depth and late plays

OKC’s depth proved decisive. Chet Holmgren finished with 15 points, 21 rebounds and 3 blocks. Alex Caruso helped guide the Thunder in overtime and drove to the basket in the final seconds of regulation; his shot bounced off the rim at the buzzer and sent the game to extra time. Players like Jaylin Williams, Alex Caruso and Jared McCain made key plays over the course of the game. 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.

Reactions from coaches and teammates

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 called the game "chippy, " saying, "If you were watching the game, I think you could see very clearly, very early that it was 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. … 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, "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, 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, which unclear in the provided context. Social-media reaction included a BBALLBREAKDOWN comment saying, "I will now have a nightmare tonight. You're welcome. "

The sequence — an apparent trip by Dort, Jokic’s immediate confrontation, Jaylin Williams’ intervention, the review and the upgrade to a Flagrant 2 —, the ejection and the offsetting technicals are all part of the official record from the game that ended 127-121 in favor of Oklahoma City.