With 1.3 seconds left in a decided game, Minnesota’s Jaden McDaniels made a layup. That was well within the rules and nobody was going to get injured, but it violated an unwritten rule in the NBA — and Nikola Jokic took exception. Jokic sprinted down court (maybe the fastest he ran all game) to get in McDaniels’ face, and there was a minor altercation. Jokic, as well as Minnesota’s Julius Randle, were ejected.
On Sunday, the league came down and fined Jokic $50,000 for instigating the incident and Randle for escalating it. From the league’s release announcing the fines:
“Jokic initiated the incident by confronting and shoving Timberwolves forward Jaden McDaniels. Randle escalated the incident by forcefully inserting himself into the scrum and shoving Nuggets guard-forward Bruce Brown.”
Neither player was suspended, and both will play in Game 5 on Monday in Denver. The league also chose not to fine several players who left their bench area during the altercation, a group that included Aaron Gordon and Jonas Valančiūnas.
The Timberwolves lead the series 3-1, and it may be frustration over that — and the fact that Rudy Gobert has played fantastic defense on Jokic and made him work for everything — that led Jokic to confront McDaniels that way. Denver needs to win three straight to advance, a tall task, but Minnesota lost starters Anthony Edwards (knee bone bruise) and Donte DiVincenzo (torn Achilles) in Game 4.
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