Nuggets Coach Rips ‘Cheap Shot’ by Lu Dort That Sparked Nikola Jokić Fight: ‘That Was Malicious’

Friday night’s win by the Thunder over the Nuggets was a very exciting overtime affair that doubled as both a playoff rematch and preview for this year’s postseason gauntlet. It will mostly be remembered, however, for Nikola Jokić’s unexpected display of emotion after a flagrant foul by OKC’s Lu Dort.

In the fourth quarter of the heavyweight clash, Dort appeared to trip Jokić by jutting out his hip and then his leg as both players ran up the floor. Jokić was very unhappy about that and immediately went after the All-NBA defender, sparking a dust-up between the two sides.

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

While Dort’s physicality and willingness to test the boundaries of what’s allowed on the court was expected, Jokić’s reaction was not; the Serbian big man is usually even-keeled out there and saves his ire for the officials most of the time. But after missing significant time due to injury for the first time in his career earlier this year Jokić did not appreciate Dort’s foul, which he deemed after the game an “unnecessary move” that warranted his “necessary reaction.” Dort got called for a flagrant 2 and subsequently was ejected.

On Sunday, coach David Adelman addressed the situation again before Denver took the floor against the Timberwolves for a matinee regular-season clash. He ripped Dort for his “malicious” move and called the foul a “cheap shot” in a passionate defense of Jokić.

“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,” Adelman said to reporters. “That was malicious. It was a cheap shot. Lu Dort’s a great player. That’s not what I’ve seen him do before. 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.”

David Adelman on Nikola Jokić and Lu Dort:

“That was malicious. It was a cheap shot…at some point, you have to stand up for yourself…” pic.twitter.com/xB2IWfYtMZ
— DNVR Nuggets (@DNVR_Nuggets) March 1, 2026

Adelman stood up for Jokić during Friday’s postgame as well, stating he believed his star grew frustrated with the physicality the officials were allowing the Thunder to get away with while defending the three-time MVP.

“I think his frustration is sometimes because the game's officiated differently out on the floor than it is near the basket. I think he was reacting to what was being done to him,” the first-year coach said. “I know why he's frustrated. I can feel his frustration with all the contact out there. He shot five free throws. It's just part of the game. The closer you get to the basket, it seems like for a bigger guy it seems like it's called a little bit different.”

However, Adelman clearly felt the need to defend his superstar player again and shouted it from the rooftops on Sunday.

Tensions will be high when Thunder, Nuggets meet next

This gives the next Denver-OKC clash a rich subtext; the two sides will play again on March 9. This weekend’s dust-up doesn’t ensure more conflict will follow but it makes for a juicy narrative around the contest. Especially since the Thunder seemed frustrated about Dort’s ejection and the foul call in general, which may have been part of the reason Adelman felt it necessary to label it as a “cheap shot” in the public eye.

“That was a chippy game,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said after his team’s win on Friday. “These are two teams that played each other in a seven-game series. We’re in the same division. We’ve played each other 100 times. They know our playbook. We know their playbook. It’s just what it is. It’s going to be an imperfect game, and things escalate like that sometimes. I know Lu. I know Nikola. I know [Jaylin Williams]. I don’t think anybody’s trying to hurt anybody. They’re just great competitors. That just boiled over. I think it was nothing more than that.

“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 ... If that's the case, we're good.

This would likely be the quote Adelman is referencing above when he says above that the Thunder apparently didn’t see anything wrong with how things unfolded from their end. It’s not surprising for either side to take their respective stances. Daigneault is going to get in front of the microphones and defend his player. Adelman will do the same.

Regardless of which side one takes in this conflict, we seem to be watching the berth of one of the modern NBA’s great rivalries. The Nuggets came closer than anybody to knocking off the Thunder en route to their title last playoffs, pushing OKC to seven games in the second round of the West bracket. They seem fated to meet again this postseason assuming all goes as expected over the remainder of the season and the early playoff rounds. If this is the preview we’re looking at, sign us up.

Tensions will be high when Thunder, Nuggets meet next

More NBA on Sports Illustrated