Denver Nuggets’ Nikola Jokic is just returning from quite possibly the worst injury of his NBA career. Jokic missed 16 games due to a left knee injury, just narrowly avoiding an ACL tear. His MVP chances are already dwindling, and even if he didn’t care about that, the big Serbian doesn’t want to get injured once again as the season moves along swiftly into the playoffs. Unfortunately, it got really close Friday night.
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During Thunder’s 127-121 OT win over the Nuggets, OKC’s Lu Dort attempted an obvious foul on Jokic, tripping him up. Things quickly got out of hand as an incensed Jokic practically launched himself at Dort, before being separated by officials. Dort was ejected after the ‘hip check,’ and Jokic received a technical foul.
NBA Hall of Famer Charles Barkley reacted to the foul and its consequences, intended or otherwise. “We all gonna get touched up. All guys get hit accidentally … but when you get hurt and somebody do something dirty to you, man, your antennas are up,” Barkley said.
After watching the clip of Dort tripping Jokic, it’s easy to see why Barkley would empathize with the 3-time MVP.
Another angle of Lu Dort’s trip: https://t.co/qDwyDvXR1p pic.twitter.com/dPvJiKTkvT
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) February 28, 2026
When reporters pressed Jokic about his reaction and whether it was warranted, the big Serbian responded by telling them that it was a blatant foul that needed a reaction from him.
“There is no such thing. I think there’s not supposed to be those things on a basketball floor … So, it was just an unnecessary move and a necessary reaction by me,” he asserted.
“Unnecessary move and a necessary reaction.”
“I think there’s not supposed to be those things on a basketball floor. So it was just an unnecessary move and a necessary reaction by me.”
– Nikola Jokic on Lou Dort’s cheap shot
@AltitudeTV pic.twitter.com/5V3n5MfRXw
— DNVR Nuggets (@DNVR_Nuggets) February 28, 2026
Dort, meanwhile, received a flagrant-2 foul from the ref after review and was ejected from the game, which didn’t sit well with Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault.
“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,” he asserted, noting that the rules should be the same for everyone.
The incident, of course, took all the attention away from what was easily the best NBA game in weeks from two of the biggest powerhouses in the Western Conference right now.
Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander continued his MVP-caliber season with 36 points and 9 assists on the night, while Jokic himself finished with 23 points, 17 rebounds, and 14 assists.
Given that the game went into overtime, we can expect the teams to liven up the Ball Arena with a similar contest when they meet once again on April 10, this time in Denver.
