DENVER — Two days later, the Denver Nuggets were even more miffed.
Oklahoma City Thunder forward Lu Dort’s flagrant foul on Nuggets star Nikola Jokić during Friday’s game was one thing. The response that came from the Thunder’s side in the aftermath was another, as the Nuggets are particularly displeased with Thunder coach Mark Daigneault’s response following the game, a team source said.
That stance seemed to be reflected before the Nuggets’ home game against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday, when coach David Adelman was asked about Jokić’s rare loss of composure against the Thunder.
“Yeah, I think it is who he is,” Adelman said. “He’s more of a measured person throughout the season — I think most people are. They’re more productive if they’re measured. But there’s a point where we play these games, and what he deals with nightly, anybody (would) react that way. For Dort to take that shot — and then I guess it wasn’t that big of a deal from their standpoint, how they looked at it — is ridiculous.
“That was malicious. It was a cheap shot. Lu Dort is a great player, and that’s not what I’ve seen him do before. But at some point, you have to stand up for yourself, and the team does as well. They’re a great team. That game was what it was. But yeah, Nikola, that’s who he is, man. You can’t have the success he’s had and not be that competitive. He has emotions inside of him that he keeps in check, but the guy is very capable and very willing to emotionally respond.”
Dort was assessed a flagrant foul 2 and was immediately ejected, which seemed to come as a surprise to Daigneault after the game.
“I will say this: If (Jaylin Williams) is running up the floor and gets tripped, we expect a flagrant 2 from this point forward,” Daigneault said after the game. “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 was asked about Adelman’s comments Sunday before the Thunder’s road game against the Dallas Mavericks. While the OKC coach stopped short of addressing the comments head-on, he did say he has “nothing but respect” for the Nuggets.
“We have respect top to bottom,” Daigneault said. “We certainly have respect for Jokic, (Aaron) Gordon, (Jamal) Murray, just because those guys have endured together for so long and had so much success, but we have respect for the staff (too). I mentioned that last year after the playoffs.
“… I said it the other night: The teams make each other better. It’s a great matchup because of that, and that’s all I’ll say about that.”
On Friday night, Jokić said there is no place in the game for what Dort did.
“There is no such thing — I think there’s not supposed to be those things on a basketball floor,” Jokić said after the game. “So, it was just an unnecessary move and a necessary reaction by me.”
The Nuggets and Thunder will face each other again on March 9 in Oklahoma City.
Spot the pattern. Connect the terms
Find the hidden link between sports terms
