Things got heated during the Denver Nuggets and Oklahoma City Thunder game, with tempers flaring on the hardwood after Lu Dort bumped Nikola Jokic, causing him to fall to the court.
The incident occurred a little over eight minutes remaining in the game’s fourth quarter, and OKC was leading 90-88. As the Nuggets inbounded the ball, Dort stuck his elbow and hip out when Jokic was running back, causing Jokic to tumble to the court after the hit.
Joker immediately popped up and went over to confront Dort for the hit. A group of players soon got tangled with OKC’s Jaylin Williams, also getting active during the scuffle.
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After the group of players had settled down and cleared the court, a review by the referees determined that Dort’s foul was “unnecessary and excessive.” He was ejected from the game for a Flagrant 2 foul.
Along with that, both Jokic and Williams received technical fouls for their parts in what occurred after the play during the group scuffle. No punches appeared to be thrown during the altercation, although a lot of pushing and shoving occurred.
Jokic spoke with reporters after the game, calling the whole thing an “unnecessary move” by Dort and a “necessary reaction” on his part to the play.
“I think there’s not supposed to be those things on a basketball floor. So it was just an unnecessary move and a necessary reaction by me,” Jokic told reporters.
The Oklahoma City Thunder went on to win 127-121 in overtime against the Nuggets with OKC’s Shai-Gilgeous Alexander scoring 36 points in his return from injury. Jokic finished with 23 points, 17 points, and 14 assists in the losing effort.
With the win, OKC moved to 46-15 and maintained its spot atop the Western Conference standings. The Nuggets fell to 37-23 and are fourth in the standings, but also tied with the Minnesota Timberwolves in the stacked West.
Dort could face additional punishment from the NBA for his play, which many are calling a cheap shot by OKC’s player on Jokic. OKC and Denver will have another meeting when they play on March 9 in Oklahoma City.
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