Nikola Jokic Responds to Patrick Beverley's Diss About Luka Doncic and Flailing

Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokic jabbed back at Los Angeles Clippers guard Patrick Beverley for suggesting he plays up contact to get more calls.

Beverley took a shot at both Jokic and the Dallas Mavericks' Luka Doncic after the Clips took a 2-1 series lead over Jokic's Nuggets with a 113-107 victory Monday night.

He compared the European standouts' attempts to play up contact to draw fouls:

Jokic nearly carried Denver to a Game 3 win as he tallied 32 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists in 39 minutes. No other member of the Nuggets scored more than 18 points. The Serbian center didn't do much damage from the free-throw line, however, making three of his four attempts.

"What is a flailing mean?" Jokic said. "... They had 26 free throws. We had 10. I am just showing the ref it is a foul."

He added: "You need to know when to be aggressive. You need to know to get into the body. Sometimes the advantage of the whistle is on your side or on the opponent's side. They are a little bit more experienced than us in those situations, so maybe that's it."

The Clippers' superstar tandem of Paul George and Kawhi Leonard combined for 55 points on 21-of-37 shooting, and L.A. as a whole shot 54.7 percent from the field.

"They're talented," Jokic told reporters. "They're favorite on paper and everything, have maybe better starting unit, more players, whatever. Coach, whatever. ... Today, we didn't close well. The effort needs to be there to give ourselves a chance to win a game."

Los Angeles eliminated Doncic and the Mavs in six games during the first round. Dallas' budding MVP candidate averaged 31.0 points, 9.8 rebounds and 8.7 assists in the series.

Meanwhile, Beverley was previously fined $25,000 after Game 2 of the Nuggets series for verbal abuse of a game official that led to his ejection from Denver's 110-101 win.

Game 4 of the Western Conference Semifinal series is scheduled for Wednesday at 9 p.m. ET on ESPN.