Denver Nuggets head coach David Adelman is not letting Oklahoma City Thunder's Lu Dort off the hook for his flagrant-2 foul on All-Star Nikola Jokic, despite the veteran guard's recent apology. After the Nuggets' 127-121 loss in overtime, Jokic called Dort's dirty play an unnecessary move, on Friday. Dort spoke out about the incident for the first time on Tuesday.
The Thunder guard said he shouldn't have made such a dangerous play on Jokic. However, Adelman couldn't care less about Dort's recent comments when a reporter asked the Nuggets head coach if Lu's apology mean anything to him, he said, per The Denver Post's Troy Renck.
“No,” Adelman replied. “No,” as he doubled down on his short response.
Dort, while speaking to the media in the visitors' locker room after Tuesday's 116-108 win against the Chicago Bulls, he reflected on the play that got him toss out of Friday's game, per The Athletic's Joel Lorenzi.
“It was a physical game throughout the whole game,” Dort said. “Obviously, that was unnecessary contact that I shouldn’t have done. I got the worst of it by getting thrown out the game. But yeah, it was a high-level game. I’m a competitor, so I compete.”
David Adelman and the Nuggets will face the Thunder in a rematch at the Paycom Center next Monday.
Nikola Jokic speaks out after altercation with Thunder's Lu Dort
Nuggets All-Star Nikola Jokic condemned Lu Dort for his flagrant-2 foul in Friday's overtime loss to the Thunder. Ready to put the loss behind him, Jokic believes adversity will make the Nuggets better in the long run. Perhaps avenging a loss to the defending champions is on the horizon.
Either way, Jokic didn't hold back in criticizing Dort's actions, he said, per The Denver Post's Bennett Durando.
“Unnecessary move, and a necessary reaction,” said Jokic. “There is no such thing — I think there's not supposed to be those things on a basketball floor. So it was just an unnecessary move and a necessary reaction by me.”
The Nuggets returned to the win column with a 128-125 victory against the Jazz on Monday.
