The NBA has rescinded an ejection on Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic and suspended head coach Mike Malone for making contact with an official during Sunday night's game against the Los Angeles Lakers, according to ESPN Insider Bobby Marks.
Malone is set to serve his suspension tonight against the Sacramento Kings, while the league offered Jokic should have been assessed a technical foul, but not ejected from the game.
The Nuggets had a disaster of a first half against the Lakers — including the ejection of Jokic and Malone. Referee Rodney Mott threw both of them out with 6:20 remaining in the second quarter after Malone had ran into the court and into Mott's path to express his displeasure with a call.
Jokic was fouled after gathering two consecutive offensive rebounds, as Julius Randle had left his feet to contest a shot, and later Kyle Kuzma has pushed the big man on the back, causing him to miss the tip-in effort.
Jokic and Mike Malone get tossed from the game 😬 pic.twitter.com/6AOq30vxVZ
— Bleacher Report NBA (@BR_NBA) November 20, 2017
Both the center and the coach were tossed out, leaving a depleted Nuggets team on its own to rebound from an 18-point deficit early in the quarter.
Jokic had some unclear choice words with Mott and that costed his ejection, while Malone's frustration got the best of him, over-stepping his literal boundaries to make a point with the official.
The Nuggets will have Jokic on the court, but will be without forward Paul Millsap with a wrist injury, which revealed no fractures earlier today.
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