What had been a very physical matchup between Denver and Oklahoma City — especially for a February game — spilled over into something more in the fourth quarter.
It started after a Jared McCain basket that put the Thunder up by two. The teams started moving back up court when Oklahoma City’s Lu Dort put his hip into Nikola Jokic and knocked the Nuggets MVP to the ground with a little cheap shot that caught the big man in the knee. The usually reserved Jokic got up angry and went after Dort, and a scuffle ensued. Jaylin Williams stepped in to defend Dort, and Williams and Jokic grabbed each other.
Tempers flare between the Nuggets and Thunder 😳
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) February 28, 2026
Lu Dort picked up a Flagrant 2 on the play and was ejected from the game. pic.twitter.com/nVNZbOROho
The play was initially ruled an offensive foul, but upon review Dort was given a Flagrant Foul 2 and ejected from the game.
Officials Crew Chief James Williams described the ejection this way postgame: “Lu Dort was assessed a flagrant foul penalty 2 because we deemed his contact on Jokić to be unnecessary and excessive with a high potential for injury, and also because the contact led to an altercation that did not dissolve. So, by rule, a flagrant foul penalty 2 carries an automatic ejection.”
“It’s an unnecessary move and a necessary reaction,” Jokic said postgame. “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.”
Expect fines to come down for this one.
The game was Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s return to the court for Oklahoma City after missing nine games with an abdominal strain, and he scored 36 points in 34 minutes but missed overtime because of a minutes limit. That didn’t matter as Oklahoma City won 127-121 in overtime. Isaiah Joe stepped up in his place, knocking down two 3-pointers in overtime, including a dagger corner triple that put Oklahoma City up 7 with 58 seconds left. It was another quality win for a shorthanded Thunder team.
