Nikola Jokic charges Lu Dort after trip foul in Nuggets-Thunder OT thriller

OKLAHOMA CITY — Once in a blue moon, Nikola Jokic likes to remind people he is a 7-foot, 285-pound man.

He decided that Lu Dort needed a reminder Friday during the fourth quarter of a white-knuckle thriller between the Nuggets and Thunder.

At the end of an evening of confrontations and controversies that may have elevated Denver and Oklahoma City to rivalry status, Jokic and the Nuggets left Paycom Center with a 127-121 loss to the Thunder in overtime.

“If Cam had made a shot, OK, they had a couple more seconds, but we would talk differently (about the game), you know?” Jokic said. “I think it was a good game. We had our chances. We kind of trend in the right direction since All-Star, I think, with our defense. We played against a really good opponent. I think we had opportunities. We had our chances. It is what it is.”

Jokic confronted Dort after getting tripped in the backcourt, leading to a heated shoving match. Dort was ejected for the foul that provoked Jokic, while Jokic and Thunder center Jaylin Williams received matching technical fouls.

Jokic’s touches were met with boos after the incident. He muscled the game into overtime on a night when everything was working for him except his jump shot. He tied it on a tough bucket with 37 seconds left. Denver generated two clutch stops against Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in the last 30 seconds of regulation, with Christian Braun blocking a step-back shot on the first possession, then forcing the ball out of SGA’s hands before the buzzer.

But the Nuggets (37-23) desperately needed one of those jumpers to fall. Jokic couldn’t buy one. He hasn’t been able to for several games while irritated by his shooting wrist. Cam Johnson also missed a potential go-ahead 3-pointer from the corner with 10 seconds left in regulation.

“Sometimes you experience the highs. Sometimes you experience the lows,” said Johnson, who was last to leave the locker room after sitting at his stall in silence as teammates cleared out. “It was just one of those moments.”

Denver scored only five points in the first four minutes of overtime. Jokic shot 2 of 10 from downtown and 9 for 25 overall.

“I think that every player has a little shooting slump or whatever, so hopefully, I can get back on track and take the shots that I want to shoot,” he said. “Or take the shots that are high-percentage shots.”

Jamal Murray led Denver with 39 points. Braun added 23 and eight rebounds. Jokic finished with 23 points, 17 boards and 14 assists. It was one of those games in which his impact transcended the box score. In nine minutes without him, the Nuggets were outscored by 21.

“We can’t start the second quarter and fourth quarter the way we did,” coach David Adelman said. “… I’m putting guys back in way too early. I think I wore our guys out trying to get control back in the game. So we just have to have a better performance from the guys coming in.”

Gilgeous-Alexander returned from an abdominal injury with 36 points, but Oklahoma City pulled him from the game after regulation. Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said before opening tip that Gilgeous-Alexander’s minutes weren’t hard-capped at any number.

Back for the first time since Game 7 last May, the Nuggets brought the fight to Oklahoma. Specifically, Jokic did. He and his teammates have been saying they want to emulate the Thunder’s boundary-pushing physicality since training camp. This was as close as they’ve been to achieving that goal.

On an early OKC possession, Jokic shoved Isaiah Hartenstein while the former Nuggets backup center screened for Gilgeous-Alexander. As a late foul was called, Jokic kept defending Gilgeous-Alexander physically on the other side of the screen. Gilgeous-Alexander took exception, tossing the ball at Jokic and picking up a technical foul. The contact by Jokic to Gilgeous-Alexander after the play was reviewed and deemed only marginal.

Jokic seemed to applauded for himself after he picked up his second foul with a few minutes left in the first quarter. He stayed in the game and had to be separated from OKC’s Jaylin Williams before the ensuing inbound, as they tried to wrestle for the same real estate around the elbow. In another sequence, Jokic got tangled up with Dort and Aaron Wiggins in the backcourt while the ball was racing to the other end of the floor.

The first half was defined by the stretches when one MVP candidate was off the court. Gilgeous-Alexander subbed out for the first time with Denver ahead 12-11. Jokic smelled blood. The Nuggets immediately went on a 15-2 run and forced Mark Daigneault to get SGA back in the game.

Jokic took his usual break at the start of the second quarter, and a 14-point lead dwindled to two by the time he returned. Nuggets coach David Adelman started that stint as he often has recently, with Cam Johnson staggering next to the bench. Gilgeous-Alexander pounced this time. The Thunder went on a quick 9-2 run, and Adelman used a timeout to get Jamal Murray on the floor for the rest of the non-Jokic minutes.

No offense ever looks pristine against Oklahoma City, but Tim Hardaway Jr. buoyed the Nuggets with tough-shot making throughout the night. He also picked up a technical foul from the bench early in the second half after Jokic thought he got fouled twice on an empty possession. Daigneault tried to get Gilgeous-Alexander a short breather in the third, but the Nuggets immediately scored five straight points.