The Phoenix Suns and the Denver Nuggets are playing Game 4 of their second-round series on Sunday night, with Phoenix leading 3-0 in the series. Things were already looking bleak enough for the Nuggets, and then their best player was ejected from the game in the third quarter.
2020-21 NBA MVP Nikola Jokic was ejected from the game after committing what was ruled a Flagrant 2 foul.
Jokic was upset about not getting a foul call, and took out his frustration on defense with a hard foul on the Suns’ Cameron Payne. Jokic appeared to be trying to hit the ball out of Payne’s hands, and hit Payne’s nose in the process. Suns star Devin Booker then got into a heated altercation with Jokic.
Jokic got ejected after this hard foul on Payne 😯 pic.twitter.com/EvG1Dfvuub
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) June 14, 2021
Did Nikola Jokic deserve an ejection pic.twitter.com/lXV2T2HNMJ
— Stadium (@Stadium) June 14, 2021
Joker shows love to Cam Payne after his flagrant foul pic.twitter.com/QFQtEB1QrZ
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) June 14, 2021
It’s a really unfortunate situation for Jokic and the Nuggets, but it’s hard to argue with the ruling either. Intentional or not, you can’t take swings and hit players in the face.
Still, it’s a bit surprising to see the league’s MVP ejected in an elimination game. That’s certainly not what Adam Silver wants, but the officials had little choice.
