Ahead of facing the Dallas Mavericks, Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault responded to Denver Nuggets head coach David Adelman's recent remarks over Lu Dort's flagrant-2 against Nikola Jokic in Friday's win. Adelman called out Thunder's Daigneault for his take on Dort's ejection, which was mentioned by a reporter to Daigneault before Sunday's matchup against the Mavericks.

Daigneault doubled down on his take from Friday night, reminding reporters that his stance on Dort's flagrant-2 hasn't changed over the past 48 hours since the Thunder's 127-121 overtime win against the Nuggets, per Sports Illustrated's Rylan Stiles.

“I would echo and repeat what I've said every time we've played Denver for a long time, which is I have nothing but respect, we have nothing but respect for Denver,” Daigneault said. We have respect top to bottom. We certainly have respect for Jokic, Gordon, Murray just because those guys have endured together for so long, and had so much success, but we have respect for their staff.

I mentioned that last year during playoffs. Like I said, I have nothing but the highest respect.  I said it the other night — the teams make each other better. It's a great matchup because of that. That's all I'll say about it,” Daigneault concluded.

Clearly, Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault isn't going to shade Dort for his flagrant-2. At this point, he's going to stick to his response that the Nuggets and Thunder matchup is a physical one that bring emotions to a boil.

David Adelman responds Thunder's reaction to Lu Dort's ejection

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Nuggets Head Coach David Adelman watches his team play against the Oklahoma City Thunder during the third quarter at Paycom Center
Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images

Nuggets head coach David Adelman didn't hold back in his take on Thunder veteran Lu Dort after a flagrant-2 against All-Star Nikola Jokic ended his night on Friday. Daigneault never criticized Dort for his vicious foul on Jokic, which led to an intriguing response from Adelman ahead of Sunday's Nuggets matchup against the Timberwolves on Sunday.

“Yeah, I think it is who he is,” Adelman said. “He's more of a measured person throughout the season — I think most people are. They're more productive if they're measured. But there's a point where we play these games, and what he deals with nightly, anybody [would] react that way. For Dort to take that shot — and then I guess it wasn't that big of a deal from their standpoint, how they looked at it — is ridiculous.

“That was malicious. It was a cheap shot. Lu Dort is a great player, and that's not what I've seen him do before. But at some point, you have to stand up for yourself, and the team does as well. They're a great team. That game was what it was. But, yeah, Nikola, that's who he is, man. You can't have the success he's had and not be that competitive. He has emotions inside of him that he keeps in check, but the guy is very capable and very willing to emotionally respond,” Adelman concluded.

The Thunder will face the Mavericks on Sunday.