Inside a wild Nuggets win: Jokic vs. Markieff, potential fallout and what comes next

Nikola Jokic’s postgame routine Monday night ran completely on schedule. He listened to Michael Malone’s postgame remarks from the Nuggets’ locker room. He went upstairs to Denver’s weight room with Monte Morris and other teammates for his usual postgame lift. He stretched and spent time in the cold tub.

It was a shade of normalcy for Jokic following a night that took an abrupt and unexpected turn late in the fourth quarter of a 113-96 convincing Nuggets win over the Miami Heat.

With the Nuggets leading by 17 points and 2:43 remaining in the fourth, Jokic began to tie a bow on a brilliant individual defensive game. He blocked Bam Adebayo’s shot at the rim for his second rejection of the evening, corralled the defensive rebound, and dribbled to half-court. There, he was met by Markieff Morris who hit Jokic both low and high. Morris’ left elbow connected with Jokic’s rib cage and his left knee speared the side of Jokic’s right. Jokic then retaliated with a running right shoulder into Morris’ upper back.

Jokic and Markieff Morris both got ejected after exchanging fouls during Nuggets-Heat.

Morris was hurt but walked off the floor under his own power. pic.twitter.com/ReXnjRTHzu

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) November 9, 2021

At first, it looked like a potentially serious injury for Morris. Ball Arena security and both Nuggets and Heat medical staffers signaled that they needed a stretcher. Eventually, Morris was able to walk off under his own power. Both players were then ejected.

There’s a lot to unpack here.

First, the Morris body check. This was a point-blank dirty play towards the end of what had become an increasingly physical game. The more I watch it, the more I’m surprised that Morris didn’t seriously injure Jokic’s knee. It was bush-league, reckless, and unnecessary, especially in the final few minutes of a blowout.

After the loss, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra simply labeled Morris’ foul, “One of those fastbreak take fouls.” Spoelstra is sticking up for his guy like all coaches would, but I wouldn’t be surprised if we later find out that his comment ticked off Michael Malone, who also stuck up for his superstar postgame.

Now for Jokic’s retaliation. It was bad. It’s likely going to lead to a suspension, as team sources speculated to DNVR late Monday night. Just how long remains to be seen, but a blindside hit with that amount of force and power will probably trigger repercussions. Jokic was remorseful postgame after seeing a replay of Morris’ head snapping back once he made contact.

“I feel really bad,” he said. “It’s a reaction. It’s a bad move”

Jokic was reacting to what he then called a “dirty play” from Morris, and he was spot-on with that assessment. He said he was expecting Morris to take a foul and stop Denver’s fastbreak but thought he crossed the line. Jokic then retaliated, partly to make sure the officials called Morris’ act flagrant.

“I’m not supposed to react that way,” said Jokic. “First of all, to not get thrown out of the game. I cannot help my team win the game, which is the most important thing. It happened. I feel bad. I’m not supposed to react that way, but I need to protect myself. Probably, if I didn’t react that way it wouldn’t have been a flagrant foul or whatever. It was just in the moment, running up and down. It was a reaction.”

I hope the entire league had their eyes on this Nuggets-Heat matchup. Everyone watching would have learned a valuable lesson that they should already know: Do not mess with Nikola Jokic. Do not try and punk him. Do not try and get one over on him. Jokic isn’t just the best player in the NBA. He might be the toughest and most principled too. The MVP won’t let you get away with that shit.

“I don’t think people realize how tough he truly is,” Isiah Thomas said Monday night on NBATV. “I mean, that’s no act. You see everybody ran up on him, and then they backed up off him.”

That’s coming from the captain of the Bad Boy Pistons.

Eventually, the dust settled and the Nuggets officially moved to 6-4 on the season. Jokic finished with 25 points (10-14 FG’s), 15 rebounds, 10 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks in 33 minutes. His season averages currently sit at a ridiculous 25.4 points (60.9 FG%, 40 3P%), 13.6 rebounds, and 5.7 assists per game. Jokic secured his first triple-double of the year and became the first player in NBA history to post those numbers in 33 minutes or less. It was as dominant of a performance — both offensively and defensively — as his numbers indicate.

But now for the bigger picture. The events from Monday night have the Nuggets facing their first fork in the road moment of the season. Denver will survive a Jokic suspension if it’s one or two games, but what if Jokic sits for five games? Six? More? I’d be surprised if it’s that much, but it’s going to take a massive effort for the Nuggets to win without him and Michael Porter Jr. who will be out for the “foreseeable future,” Malone said Monday. Denver’s next 10 opponents — Indiana, Atlanta, Portland, Dallas, Philadelphia, Chicago, Phoenix, Portland, Milwaukee, and then Miami again — aren’t easy.

You also wonder how this incident will affect Jokic’s rep across the league and with the NBA’s officials. He should have had a more tempered reaction and gotten his point across without such a violent act. Morris was way in the wrong, but so was Jokic. You question what’s coming on Nov. 29 in Miami too when these two teams meet next. You have to think there will be a retaliation of some sort coming from the Heat side.

But this win over a Heat team that fashions itself a championship contender can be a rallying cry for the Nuggets as the tenor around Denver’s season has seemed to shift for the first time this year. Porter was at the arena getting treatment Monday and joined his teammates on Denver’s sideline for the first half, but he’s expected to miss some time. The Nuggets are going to have to band together without him just to break the 100 point barrier. It’s not going to feel normal or typical. There will be lineups we’ve never seen and rotations we haven’t thought of that Malone deploys.

The Nuggets have been in similar situations before. Denver has faced so much adversity so many times throughout the Jokic era and has always emerged stronger. The Nuggets can either run from their misfortunes or embrace them.

With this team and this coach, I think we all know what they’ll do.