Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets had an incredibly difficult outing last night, as they were dominated by the Golden State Warriors. Jokic, who was pretty much the lone star for the Nuggets, couldn’t do much to stop the Warriors, as they were able to get the win pretty easily. It was a frustrating evening for Jokic and the Nuggets, who were outclassed by the Warriors and went 2-0 down in their first-round series.
During the game, Gary Payton II sportingly tapped Nikola Jokic on the backside, something that is acknowledged as a sign of respect among athletes. But Nikola Jokic clearly didn’t see it that way, as he immediately turned around and went up to Gary Payton II and tried to confront him. Jokic was held back by Stephen Curry, who helped neutralize the situation and sent Jokic back to his own bench.
Jokic didn’t like this. 👀
— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) April 19, 2022
Jokic was very frustrated throughout the night, and probably let the incident get the better of him. Things didn’t escalate from there, but it was far from the only tense situation during the game, as Nuggets stars DeMarcus Cousins and Will Barton got into a heated argument and had to be separated by the rest of the bench. Tensions were running extremely high among the players and threatened to boil over.
Jokic was eventually ejected from the game for accumulating too many fouls. As he was leaving the game, Draymond Green waved goodbye to Jokic, mocking him after he got ejected. Many fans have praised Green for the performance he had against the Denver Nuggets, specifically when it came to guarding Nikola Jokic. Draymond Green will be confident about guarding the reigning MVP for the rest of the series.
Jokic and the Nuggets will be looking to bounce back in Game 3 when the Nuggets return to Denver and try to get the win in their home court.
