The Orlando Magic put their four-game winning streak on the line against the reigning champion Denver Nuggets on Wednesday night. On paper, this looked like as difficult a matchup as it can get for the Magic, especially when Nikola Jokic, time and time again, has shown that there are no defensive coverages that he can't solve. Thus, the Magic needed every advantage they can get, with Jalen Suggs even trying to ruffle Jokic's feathers by being physical with him.

In fact, on one such play, it seemed as though Suggs exaggerated the contact he received from Jokic while the two were fighting for the loose ball and got themselves entangled with each other. In real time, it seemed as though the Nuggets star landed a heavy elbow drop right on the Magic guard's dome and then to compound matters, it looked like Jokic threw a wild swing towards Suggs which then warranted intervention from referee Scott Wall.

But upon closer review, it doesn't seem like there was much in the way of contact from Nikola Jokic towards Jalen Suggs. On re-watch, it certainly looks like the Magic guard was clearly simulating contact to try and put Jokic, fresh off an ejection during the Nuggets' win over the Detroit Pistons on Monday night, in yet another compromising position.

“There is also no perceivable reason for Suggs to be grabbing at his face after the initial flop – and I think we all saw that in real-time / on replay. Not only should this not have been a foul against Jokic, it's a screaming case of for getting penalized for flopping,” one fan wrote.

It's even more telling that Jalen Suggs, in the aftermath of Nikola Jokic's so-called “violent” play, quickly got off the ground in celebration, pumped that he did his job in getting under the Nuggets star's nerves.

Nevertheless, as the old adage goes, don't hate the player, hate the game. If the officials are going to continue to let these things slide, then Jalen Suggs is well within his rights to be instigating physical altercations such as this one, especially if it helps the nascent Magic win games, which they did against the Nuggets on Wednesday night after taking home a 124-119 victory.