Nikola Jokic sheds light on questionable flagrant-2 ejection

DENVER — With 9:43 remaining in the fourth quarter of tonight’s 107-83 Denver Nuggets win over the Utah Jazz, Nikola Jokic was assessed a flagrant foul penalty (2) and subsequently ejected from the game for an elbow that allegedly made contact with Jonas Jerebko’s face.

“We were running together down the court together, and he started bumping into me. First time, second time, third time,” Jokic said from his locker after the win. “And when I saw that he tried to bump me (again), Then I tried to swim over him and I kind of hit him.”

“But if I’m going to hit the guy, I’m not going to hit him like that. And then it’s a flagrant-2. I was very surprised I was ejected.”

Crew chief Marc Davis reviewed the call then upgraded it to a flagrant foul penalty (2) which means an automatic ejection.

The NBA defines a flagrant foul penalty (2) as “unnecessary and excessive contact committed by a player against an opponent. It is an unsportsmanlike act and the offender is ejected immediately.”

“Marc Davis, he said that as Nikola was coming down, he said Nikola initiated contact with (Jonas) Jerebko, and his elbow caught him in the head,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. “And obviously, they deemed it a flagrant-2 with the ejection. I’ll watch the replay, but obviously the referees looked at it, they saw it, and they called it that way, and you have to respect their decision.”

Jokic said that he did not initiate contact with Jerebko on purpose. The two are familiar with one another from overseas competitions (Jerebko plays for Sweeden’s national team) but don’t have any history between one another.

It was Jokic’s second ejection of the season. His first came on Nov. 19 against the Lakers.

“I know him,” Jokic said. “Overseas guys talk to each other, but I never trash talk. That’s never my game.”

“(It’s) part of the game. I didn’t do it on purpose.”

After Jokic was ejected, Denver outscored Utah 27-18 over the game’s final nine-plus minutes.

“We’ve had a mindset all year long, no Paul (Millsap), no Nikola, no Gary, no Will, let’s go play. We have a lot of talented players, so I thought the guys that were in there, they played a lot of small ball. We played a lot of small ball with Trey Lyles, who was great tonight, almost had a double-double. Our guys don’t get phased if Nikola’s not in the game. We know we can live without Nikola.

Jokic finished with 13 points, seven rebounds, and five assists in 26 minutes.

In the midst of Jokic’s ejection, Denver pieced together another impressive win that capped a three-game stretch where the Nuggets held three-straight opponents under 85 points.

Friday night in Portland, Denver limited the Trail Blazers to 85 points on 42.2 percent shooting. 24 hours later in Oakland, Golden State scored a season-low 81 points on the Nuggets. Tonight, Utah scored just 34 points in the first half and didn’t reach the 50-point mark until there were around five minutes remaining in the third quarter. The Jazz shot just 32.1 percent from the field and under 30 percent from three.

After turning the ball over 21 times in their opening-night loss in Utah and 17 times against the Jazz in a 106-77 defeat back on Nov. 28, the Nuggets committed just nine turnovers tonight.

“To do it three games in a row, to do it at that level, is outstanding,” Malone said. “I think the biggest key tonight was 10 turnovers (committed), eight (Utah) points (off turnovers). When we value the ball like that, and we defend the way we’re defending, I don’t think there’s a team in this league that we cannot beat. Great defense, really good job of taking care of the basketball and just a really important division win.”