Nuggets Vs Thunder — Nikola Jokić angrily confronts Lu Dort in nuggets vs thunder overtime
The Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Denver Nuggets 127-121 in overtime Friday, a game that exploded late when Lu Dort appeared to trip Nikola Jokić and the two exchanged words and shoves. The skirmish produced a flagrant-2 ejection for Dort, offsetting technicals for Jokić and Jaylin Williams, and has become the defining moment of this nuggets vs thunder meeting.
How the altercation started on the court
Nikola Jokić was jogging up the floor after Oklahoma City scored when Lu Dort stuck out his right leg and tripped him. A common foul was called on the play, and Jokić immediately confronted Dort, putting his chest into the Thunder wing. OKC center Jaylin Williams came to Dort’s defense and exchanged shoves with Jokić during a brief altercation at midcourt. Players and coaches from both teams rushed to midcourt, it took a while for the two to be pried loose, and the sequence occurred in the fourth quarter.
Officials upgrade the call and hand out penalties
After reviewing footage, officials upgraded Dort’s foul to a flagrant-2, resulting in an automatic ejection. Jokić and Jaylin Williams were assessed offsetting technical fouls and were allowed to remain 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. ”
Officials determined Jokić 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. 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. ”
Nikola Jokić’s response and on-court reaction
Jokić, described as a man of few words, called Dort’s action “Unnecessary move and a necessary reaction, ” and 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. ” He 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 exchange with Williams.
Replays showed an intense look from Jokić that some called “frankly terrifying, ” and clips of the moment circulated with messages such as “I will now have a nightmare tonight. You’re welcome. ”
Game context: overtime, key performances and minutes restrictions
The game went to overtime after Jokić tied it with 38 seconds left in regulation. The extra five minutes were one-sided in favor of Oklahoma City, who shut down Denver for the 127-121 victory. Jokić finished with 23 points on 9-of-25 shooting, 17 rebounds and 14 assists, while Jamal Murray led all scorers with 39 points. Only two other Nuggets scored more than seven points.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander returned from an abdominal strain and led the Thunder with 36 points and nine assists in 34 minutes, but he missed all of overtime because of a minutes restriction. Chet Holmgren finished with 15 points, 21 rebounds and three blocks.
Depth, standings and the coaches’ remarks
Oklahoma City’s depth proved decisive; role players such as Jaylin Williams, Alex Caruso and Jared McCain made key plays over the course of the game. The win left the Thunder 46-15, two games ahead of the San Antonio Spurs for the best record in the West. The Nuggets sit tied with the Minnesota Timberwolves for fourth place at 37-23.
Cam Johnson said he didn’t see the trip because his back was turned but 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 night “a chippy game, ” noting the teams had played a seven-game series and are longtime divisional rivals: “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. ” Daigneault said he didn’t think anyone was trying to hurt anybody and that it “just boiled over, ” and added: “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. ”
Nuggets coach David Adelman said in his postgame news conference that he still needed to rewatch the incident, which unclear in the provided context.
