WATCH: Nuggets’ Nikola Jokic goes after Warriors’ Gary Payton II for slapping his butt, later gets ejected
Written by ABC AUDIO ALL RIGHTS RESERVED on April 20, 2022
During Monday night’s playoff game between the Denver Nuggets and Golden State Warriors, players began to show their frustrations on the court — particularly Nikola Jokic. The Nuggets wound up losing to the Warriors, 126-106, and during the loss, the Nuggets star was not thrilled with some actions of his opponents.
In this first quarter, Warriors guard Gary Payton II blocked Jokic’s shot, giving Golden State the chance to grab the ball, head down to the other side of the court, hit a three and force the other side to call a timeout. It was not what Jokic wanted to see, but what made matters worse for him is what Payton did as he walked to the bench.
Payton hit Jokic on his butt and Jokic reacted very strongly to the gesture. Jokic went to go after Payton, but was held back by Steph Curry and Jordan Poole before anything could escalate.
After the game, Jokic commented on the incident saying, “He doesn’t need to do that. I just reacted. No need to do that.”
Jokic also showed his irritation in the third quarter when he was given a technical foul after reacting to a call he disagreed with. Jokic was called on a personal foul against Andrew Wiggins and not thrilled, so he slammed the ball on the court, leading to the technical.
It did not stop there. In the fourth, he expected a foul to be called on Draymond Green and when that did not happen, he turned to yell at the referees. The refs handed him his second technical foul and in turn an ejection, which did not help Jokic’s frustrations.
As you can see in the above clip, Green was not too upset at Jokic’s exit and waved goodbye to him.
After the game, Jokic explained some of his reactions, saying, “I mean, it’s pretty much everything. It is what it is. I’m not supposed to do that, and I’m not going to do that. I think I got fouled in the moment because I heard the slap. That’s why I just reacted.”
He added that hopefully his team can “find a better flow defensively and offensively” moving forward. The teams meet next on Thursday at the Pepsi Center, with the Warriors leading the series 2-0.
The post WATCH: Nuggets’ Nikola Jokic goes after Warriors’ Gary Payton II for slapping his butt, later gets ejected first appeared on CBS Sports.
