Nuggets’ Jokic calls out Thunder’s Dort for ‘unnecessary’ foul

OKLAHOMA CITY — After Denver Nuggets superstar Nikola Jokic fell on the Paycom Center court early in the fourth quarter Friday night, he determined he had to respond to what he considered a dirty tactic by Oklahoma City Thunder guard Luguentz Dort.

A fractious game between rivals who faced each other in a seven-game series in last season’s Western Conference semifinals turned into a heated confrontation at that point, resulting in Dort’s ejection and double technical fouls on Jokic and Oklahoma City center Jaylin Williams.

The brawl began when Dort appeared to trip Jokic as he ran onto the court with 8:03 left in the fourth quarter. Dort stepped back at Jokic and stuck out his right foot, knocking down the big man, who quickly got up to confront Dort angrily.

“It’s an unnecessary decision and a necessary reaction,” Jokic said after the Nuggets’ 127-121 overtime loss to the defending champions. “There’s no such thing. I think there’s not supposed to be such things on a basketball court. So it was just an unnecessary gesture and a necessary reaction on my part.”

After Jokic punched Dort in the chest, Williams rushed to intervene. Jokic and Williams shoved each other and grabbed each other’s jerseys as a scrum of players, coaches, officials and staff formed around them and were eventually separated.

“I’m just competing,” Williams told ESPN. “Two teams competing, that’s it. That’s all I have.”

After review, the foul called against Dort was upgraded to flagrant foul 2, resulting in an automatic expulsion. Crew chief James Williams told a pool reporter that officials were “considering [Dort’s] the contact on Jokic was unnecessary and excessive with high potential for injury. » Williams also cited contact leading to an “altercation that didn’t dissolve” as the reason for making it a flagrant foul 2.

“I will say this: if [Williams] “He runs down the court and gets tripped, we expect a blatant 2 from that point on,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. “That’s it. If this is the precedent, if this becomes a malicious game and the limit is blatant, we would expect that if it is [Williams]. We would expect that if it was anyone. And if that’s the case, it’s all good.”

Asked if he believed the play was ruled flagrant 2 because the foul was committed against a three-time MVP, Daigneault replied: “No, I’m not going to answer the question like that. I said what I had to say about that.”

The referees determined that the actions of Jokic and Jaylin Williams during the altercation did not rise to the level of an expulsion, James Williams said in the pool report.

The brawl overshadowed the return of reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who had 36 points on 12-of-29 shooting and dished out nine assists in 34 minutes. Gilgeous-Alexander did not participate in the overtime period because he had reached his minutes limit after missing the previous nine games with an abdominal strain suffered on February 3.

Gilgeous-Alexander was called for a technical foul in the first quarter when he responded to Jokic’s contact after the whistle by throwing the ball to him. James Williams told the Pool Reporter that Jokic was not called for a technical review on that play because officials determined his contact with his left forearm did not rise to the level of an unsportsmanlike act.

“They’re obviously a top team, we’re a top team, and we’ve seen a lot of each other over the last few years, so we might be a little more involved in the game just because we know the opponent,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “It was fun. It was good out there. Late-season basketball is like that. It’s so sharp, so physical, so it was good to have one in the regular season.”

The Nuggets fell to 4-7 since Jokic’s return after a month’s absence, including 1-6 in decisive games (within five points in the final five minutes) during that span. Jokic recorded his league-leading 22nd triple-double with 23 points, 17 rebounds and 14 assists against the Thunder, but his recent uncharacteristic shooting struggles continued, as he made 9 of 25 from the floor and 2 of 10 from 3-point range.

Jokic, who was 3 of 5 from the free throw line, animatedly protested the calls after several of his shots. There were also several instances where Jokic bumped into and shoved Thunder players during the game.

“I think his frustration sometimes came from the fact that the game played out differently on the court than at the basket, and I think he was reacting to what was being done to him,” Nuggets coach David Adelman said. “And his reaction won’t be to cower. He’s competitive. … I know why he’s frustrated. I can feel his frustration with all the contact. He shot five free throws.

“It’s just part of the game. The closer you get to the basket, the closer you get to the basket, you feel like for a bigger player, it seems like it’s called a little differently, but he’s got to react the right way. Focus and finish through contact. And obviously with Dort’s play, I think it took it to a different level for him. He felt like it was malicious, too.”

The Nuggets and Thunder meet on March 9 in Oklahoma City.