As Nikola Jokic sat on the scorer’s table awaiting the verdict, he hadn’t yet considered the worst-case scenario.
While officials reviewed his third-quarter swat on Suns guard Cameron Payne, he said he didn’t say anything to teammates since he figured his swipe wouldn’t warrant a Flagrant 2.
“I thought, honestly … they’re not going to eject me,” Jokic said in the aftermath of Sunday’s 125-118 loss to Phoenix that ousted the Nuggets into the offseason by virtue of a humbling 4-0 sweep.
Disbelief.
It was the same thought Nuggets coach Michael Malone had. During the official review, Malone wandered to the second row of the bench where his assistants had an iPad at the ready.
“I just assumed – and we all know we should never assume – I assumed it would be a Flagrant 1, at the worst,” Malone said, still perplexed at the referees’ decision to eject Jokic.
According to NBA official David Guthrie, when Jokic swiped at Payne with 3:52 remaining in the third quarter, officials saw “wind up, impact and follow through, which led to unnecessary and excessive contact above the shoulders and also into the face,” he said. That, Guthrie said, met the criteria for a Flagrant 2.
Guthrie also added that Jokic’s subsequent jawing with Devin Booker didn’t play a role in their decision.
“Not particularly, no,” he said. “The flagrant was being judged mostly on his action.”
Malone disagreed with the league’s interpretation of his swipe, which booted Jokic from the game with the Nuggets down just 83-75.
“From my vantage point and watching the replay, I did not think it was a non-basketball play with malicious intent,” Malone said. “I think it was a frustration foul. I feel Nikola probably felt the last couple of plays when he had the ball, he had not received a foul call.
“He went over there to take a foul, which he’s done plenty of times before,” Malone continued. “A lot of players do that. I just didn’t feel like it warranted a Flagrant 2 ejection because he’s making a play on the ball. There was marginal contact to Cameron Payne’s nose, I believe. I was shocked. I’m still a little bit shocked that they called a Flagrant 2 and ejected the MVP on such a play.”
Before Jokic left the court to watch the final quarter-plus in the locker room, he approached Payne at midcourt and appeared to apologize.
“I didn’t do it on … I didn’t want to injure him or hit him in the head on purpose,” Jokic said.
And then for the second consecutive game, Jokic apologized. After Game 3, he apologized for not doing enough despite reaching statistical heights matched only by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Wilt Chamberlain. Then after Game 4, he apologized for doing too much.
“I shouldn’t do that,” he said. “Of course, it was my bad. I’m sorry.”
Jokic’s explanation after the game was that he was simply trying to change the rhythm of the game regarding how the whistles were being called. Phoenix ended the night with 31 trips to the free-throw line compared to just 21 for Denver.
But in a rich turn of events, his teammates paid him the best compliment they had all year. They returned the favor after he’d dragged them to the second round. They kept clawing, trudging back from a 16-point deficit with 52 seconds left in the third quarter to a four-point game in the fourth.
Facundo Campazzo and Michael Porter Jr. discovered an offense that had largely eluded them all series, while Will Barton, in just his third game back from a serious hamstring injury, poured in 21 of his 25 points in the second half. It was just 101-97 when little-used JaVale McGee knocked down a free throw with 8:01 left.
“They’re a really tough group of guys,” he said. “They don’t want to quit.”
On the night their season ended, no one could claim the Nuggets went softly. And for a series that never looked particularly competitive, that was perhaps all Jokic could’ve asked for to end his MVP campaign.
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