Nikola Jokic Calls Out Thunder's Lu Dort for Foul After Altercation on Video, 'Unnecessary Move'
The rivalry between the Denver Nuggets and Oklahoma City Thunder hit another level on Friday night when Nikola Jokić took exception to a foul committed by Lu Dort in the fourth quarter.
After the Nuggets' 127-121 overtime loss, Jokić told reporters that Dort's foul was an "unnecessary move" that warranted a "necessary reaction" from him.
"There is no such thing—I think there's not supposed to be those things on a basketball floor," Jokić said. "So, it was just an unnecessary move and a necessary reaction by me.
The incident, which occurred with just over eight minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, saw Dort appear to stick out his hip and leg to make contact with Jokić as the Nuggets were bringing the ball up the court.
Jokić responded by getting in Dort's face, leading to members of both teams getting involved to try calming things down. The Nuggets star also shoved Jaylin Williams as he attempted to intervene.
Dort, who was initially whistled for a foul, received a flagrant-2 foul upon replay review that led to an automatic ejection.
In the pool report after the game, crew chief James Williams explained the flagrant-2 call was because it was deemed that Dort's contact on Jokić was "unnecessary and excessive with a high potential for injury," as well as the ensuing "altercation that did not dissolve."
Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault explained to reporters he though the flagrant-2 call was excessive:
"I will say this: If [Williams] is running up the floor and gets tripped, we expect a flagrant 2 from this point forward. That's all. If that's the precedent, if that becomes a malicious play and flagrant 2 is the line in the sand on that, we would expect that if it's [Williams]. We would expect that if it's anybody. And if that's the case, we're good."
Daigneault declined to answer when asked if thought the officials assessed a flagrant-2 because the foul was committed against a high-profile player like Jokić.
There was a separate incident earlier in the game when Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, playing in his first game since Feb. 3, received a technical foul for throwing the ball at Jokić after the Nuggets star maintained contact with him after the whistle.
The Dort incident nearly overshadowed what was a terrific game between arguably the two best teams in the Western Conference. Gilgeous-Alexander looked to be in peak form with 36 points and nine assists in 34 minutes after missing nine games due to an abdominal injury.
Jokić put up a triple-double with 23 points, 17 rebounds and 14 assists. Jamal Murray scored 39 points in the loss.
The Thunder and Nuggets will meet two more times in the regular season, on March 9 in Oklahoma City and April 10 at Ball Arena in Denver.
