Lu Dort aggressively fouled Nikola Jokic again
Lu Dort’s defense has come under fire recently. After he hip-checked Nikola Jokic, for no apparent reason, the Oklahoma City Thunder wing was criticized endlessly. He was accused of being dirty, especially since this isn’t his first incident, and there was no reason to hip-check Jokic that far away from the basket and without the ball.
Jokic got into it with the Thunder after, and there was a real anger on his face. This time, though, he wasn’t bothered by the incident. Dort fouled him flagrantly, hitting him in the face while working through a screen. It was more of a basketball play this time.
When asked, Jokic said he did not think Dort crossed the line this time. “It was over since last time,” Jokic said. Nuggets coach David Adelman added, “I’m done talking about that. 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.”
Adelman was very upset about the original flagrant foul, though. He called it “malicious” and labeled it a “cheap shot.” He even took issue with Thunder coach Mark Daigneault’s comments after the game. The Thunder coach downplayed the incident.
Mark Daigneault’s original comments
At the time, Mark Daigneault said it was a result of a chippy game and that it just boiled over. He also seemed to be frustrated about the fact that it was a flagrant two and an ejection for Dort, although the NBA world seemed to agree about those things.
“I will say this. If a player gets – if J-Will is running up the floor and gets tripped, we expect a Flagrant 2 from this point forward. That’s all. That’s the precedent,” the coach said at the time. “If that becomes a malicious play, and a Flagrant 2 is the line in the sand on that, we would expect that if it’s J-Will. We would expect that if it’s anybody. And if that’s the case, we’re good.”
This time, the coach admitted he probably didn’t help with his comments last time. “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.”
Lu Dort explains
Lu Dort also explained his actions, saying his arms just kind of go everywhere while working through on defense. “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.”
The forward also confirmed that he spoke with Jokic after the game, admitting that he got lost in the competition and apologized to the Nuggets center. The Thunder visit the Nuggets for the penultimate game of the season on April 10.
After that, they have a good chance of eventually meeting up in the postseason, just like they did last year. That series lasted seven games, but the Thunder survived en route to an NBA Finals victory over the Indiana Pacers.
Related Posts
