Denver Nuggets superstar Nikola Jokic lost his cool in their 127-121 overtime loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder at Paycom Center on Friday. Thunder guard Lu Dort, who has developed a reputation for being a dirty player, appeared to trip Jokic intentionally in the fourth quarter, and all hell broke loose afterward.
Jokic angrily confronted Dort, which led to a scuffle breaking out. The Serb and Thunder big man, Jaylin Williams, got into it and had to be separated by players and coaches on both teams. Jokic and Williams were given technicals, while Dort got ejected after being slapped with a flagrant 2, much to his surprise.
Jokic was asked about Dort’s trip postgame, and he made it pretty clear he does not regret how he reacted to it.
“Unnecessary move, and a necessary reaction,” Jokic said, via Bennett Durando. “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 and a necessary reaction by me.”
That was definitely unnecessary. This wasn’t a situation where the game was flowing at a rapid pace. The Nuggets were just bringing the ball up the court, and Dort tripped Jokic for no reason whatsoever. There are times when you can maybe defend a player for tripping an opponent, but there was no defending this.
Jokic has also shown he is not going to let people get away with cheap-shotting him. He infamously shoved Markieff Morris from behind for elbowing him in 2021 and knocked him out of action for a while. Jokic did regret hitting Morris, but there was no regret here.
Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley had defended Jokic back then, and they didn’t take issue with his reaction here either on Inside the NBA.
“The first thought that comes to mind when somebody gives you a cheap shot is, ‘Hey, you could have hurt me,'” O’Neal said. “So, he reacted the right way. Smart enough not to throw punches, but just to give him that intense look to let him know that I’m not playing.”
Jokic had missed 16 games due to a hyperextended left knee earlier, and he was always going to get fired up over a cheap shot like that. O’Neal doesn’t believe Dort, who had eight points (3-7 FG), six rebounds, one assist, and one steal on the night, should have been ejected for it, though.
“I wouldn’t say it’s a flagrant 2,” O’Neal added. “… It’s not even a hard check. It’s just like a medium check. Every now and then, Ernie [Johnson], you got to touch people up.”
Barkley wasn’t in agreement with O’Neal on this subject.
“And I disagree with Shaq,” Barkley said. “I don’t mind touching guys up. He tripped that man. That’s the only problem. I believe in touching guys up… But when you get hurt and then somebody do something dirty to you, man, your antennas are up.”
Some argued that Jokic should have been ejected as well for his actions during the scuffle, but he was confident he wouldn’t be tossed. The eight-time All-Star claimed he didn’t do anything.
Jokic finished the night with 23 points (9-25 FG), 17 rebounds, 14 assists, and one steal. The 31-year-old went cold in overtime, though, scoring two points on 1-4 shooting from the field, as the Nuggets dropped to 37-23 on the season. They’ll take on the Minnesota Timberwolves next at Ball Arena on Sunday at 3:30 p.m. ET.
