There appears to be a growing feud between Nikola Jokic and Lu Dort. While things had calmed down a bit since Dort intentionally tripped Jokic, the Thunder forward pulled off a similar stunt during Monday night’s game.
In the fourth quarter, Lu Dort struck Nikola Jokic in the face with his elbow while fighting through a screen, leading to Dort being assessed a flagrant one foul. Although this matter could have escalated, Jokic had a fairly stoic reaction to the play after the Nuggets‘ 129-126 loss, according to the Denver Gazette’s Vinny Benedetto.
“Nikola Jokic says his face is fine. He doesn’t think Lu Dort crossed the line on the play,” Benedetto tweeted.
Lu Dort just backhand slapped Nikola Jokic 😂😂
This dude gotta be stopped lmaooo pic.twitter.com/32bIDSukMP
— Hater Report (@HaterReport) March 10, 2026
Upon inspecting the clip, it is difficult to understand how Dort didn’t cross the line.
While attempting to curl around Jokic and stay on Jamal Murray, Dort’s arm flails and smacks the Nuggets superstar in the face. While it is normal for arms to be used to gauge distance, this specific movement appears unnatural, especially when considering how much taller Jokic is than Dort.
There may be some room to consider that Nikola Jokic is underplaying the situation to prevent it from escalating further. Given Dort’s reputation for being a dirty player, however, there was more than enough reason for the Nuggets superstar to be incensed.
David Adelman Reacts To Nikola Jokic Being Fouled By Lu Dort
For the most part, Lu Dort is considered a solid defensive player, though he can be overtly physical at times. Although Nuggets head coach David Adelman has called out Dort’s unnecessary physicality in the past, he had nothing more to say regarding the Thunder forward after this game. While speaking about the play during his postgame media availability, he stated:
“I’m done talking about that. Like, it’s every time we play them. You’ve got to move past it and just try to win the game. Obviously, that play helped us stay in the game. Sometimes a play like that can flip the game. It got us to tie the game.”
“I don’t know,” Adelman added. “His arms flailed. It happened to catch him in the face. That’s all I’ll say about it.”
As Adelman noted, Dort was called for the flagrant foul at a crucial point in the fourth quarter, helping the Nuggets stunt OKC’s scoring for a moment. In this regard, the outcome was largely positive.
Still, Adelman’s concerns are justified. Given the kind of injury issues his team has dealt with this season, losing Nikola Jokic at this point in the season could prove catastrophic.
With this loss, the Nuggets have fallen to 39-26 on the season, falling to sixth place. While this isn’t necessarily the worst position to be in, given that they are 4-6 in their last 10 games, the Nuggets will need to turn things around soon.
