Dort apologizes to Jokic after another flagrant

OKLAHOMA CITY — Thunder wing Luguentz Dort said he apologized to Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic after committing a second fourth-quarter flagrant foul on him in the past two weeks.

“Just lost in the competition,” Dort told ESPN’s Tim MacMahon. “But shook his hand, [said] ‘great game’ and I apologized that that happened.”

Dort’s flagrant foul in the closing moments of the Thunder’s 129-126 win Monday night didn’t cause nearly the stir or backlash as his away-from-the-action trip of Jokic 10 days earlier.

In this instance, Dort swung his left arm around while trying to navigate a Jokic screen on the wing and whacked Jokic in the face. Officials ruled it a flagrant 1 after review, giving Jokic two free throws and Denver possession.

“I didn’t mean to hit him in the face,” Dort said. “But when I go over screens and stuff like that, my arms are just everywhere, and then unfortunately I just hit him in the face. … I didn’t think it was a flagrant 1. Unnecessary means I did [it] on purpose, which I didn’t.”

Jokic gave a quick “no” response when asked postgame whether he felt this Dort foul crossed the line, different from his reaction to Dort’s foul on Feb. 27, when he jumped up and confronted Dort in the moment, creating a scrum at center court, and afterward called Dort’s trip “unnecessary.”

“It was over since last time,” Jokic said when asked Monday night whether there remained any hard feelings.

Nuggets coach David Adelman was critical of Dort’s trip in the first matchup, calling it “malicious” and a “cheap shot.” He also indicated some frustration toward Thunder coach Mark Daigneault’s postgame reaction that night, downplaying the incident.

Daigneault said before Monday night’s game that he regretted his initial dismissive reaction.

“Lu acknowledged the play was unnecessary,” Daigneault said. “I don’t think my [postgame] comments, if I’m being honest, helped. The timing of them was insensitive. I was in the mode of protecting my team. I’ve acknowledged that. We’re ready to move forward.”

That recent history provided a tense backdrop for Monday night’s flagrant foul, but there wasn’t nearly the postgame blowback from the Denver locker room. Both Adelman and Nuggets wing Aaron Gordon acknowledged that the Dort foul actually provided a huge boost in Denver’s comeback.

The Nuggets were down seven with 1:12 left when Dort was whistled for the flagrant. Jokic hit one free throw and then made a 3 on the extra possession, bringing them to within three.

Denver tied it with 8.5 seconds left on a Jokic 3 combined with an away-from-the-play foul committed on Jamal Murray. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander won it for the Thunder with a stepback wing 3 with 2.7 seconds left, ending a thriller that had another layer of Dort and Jokic drama.

“I’m done talking about that,” Adelman said. “It’s every time we play them. You got to move past it and try to win the game. … His arm flailed. It happened to catch him in the face. That’s all I’ll say.”

The Thunder are 3-0 against the Nuggets this season. They meet for a fourth and final time on April 10, two days before the end of the regular season.