Tempers flared in the fourth quarter of the Oklahoma City Thunder’s 127-121 overtime win over the Denver Nuggets at Paycom Center on Friday. There was some tension in the air in the arena on the night, and Lu Dort ignited it with a cheap shot on Nikola Jokic.
As Jokic was making his way back up the court after a made basket by Jared McCain with just over eight minutes remaining, Dort appeared to intentionally stick his leg out, causing the Serb to crash to the floor. The three-time MVP was not happy and confronted the Canadian, which kick-started quite a scuffle.
Lu Dort was ejected after appearing to trip Nikola Jokic on this play.
Nikola Jokic and Jaylin Williams both received technical fouls. pic.twitter.com/ZFyNHpigsM
— ESPN (@espn) February 28, 2026
Thunder big man Jaylin Williams came to Dort’s defense, and he and Jokic got into it. Both men grabbed each other’s jerseys and were eventually slapped with technical fouls.
Dort, though, was always going to be in a lot more trouble. He was assessed a flagrant 2 for the hit and was ejected from the game.
Dort finished the night with eight points (3-7 FG), six rebounds, one assist, and one steal. Some might argue an ejection was harsh, but it wasn’t. Dort’s history of dirty plays didn’t help him out there, either. Earlier this season, he came under fire for a dirty play on San Antonio Spurs superstar Victor Wembanyama.
Dort made it to our list of the 10 dirtiest players in the NBA today. He might have a case to climb up even higher after tonight.
As for Jokic, he ended up with 23 points (9-25 FG), 17 rebounds, 14 assists, and one steal. He wasn’t quite at his best down the stretch, though, as the Thunder overturned a 16-point deficit to come away with the win.
Jokic also got into it with Thunder players on a couple of other occasions on the night. It was an uncharacteristic outing in every sense.
The Nuggets dropped to 37-23 with this loss and will take on the Minnesota Timberwolves next on Sunday at 3:30 p.m. ET.
The Thunder, meanwhile, improved to 46-15. The fact that they came away with this win despite Shai Gilgeous-Alexander not playing in overtime was quite impressive. We’ll see them in action next against the Dallas Mavericks at American Airlines Center on Sunday at 8 p.m. ET.
