Dort apologizes to Jokic after another flagrant in Thunder win - ESPN

OKLAHOMA CITY — Thunder wing Luguentz Dort said he apologized to Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic after committing a second fourth-quarter flagrant foul on him in the past two weeks.

«Just lost in the competition,» Dort told ESPN's Tim MacMahon. «But shook his hand, [said] 'great game' and I apologized that that happened.»

Dort's flagrant foul in the closing moments of the Thunder's 129-126 win Monday night didn't cause nearly the stir or backlash as his away-from-the-action trip of Jokic 10 days earlier.

In this instance, Dort swung his left arm around while trying to navigate a Jokic screen on the wing and whacked Jokic in the face. Officials ruled it a flagrant 1 after review, giving Jokic two free throws and Denver possession.

«I didn't mean to hit him in the face,» Dort said. «But when I go over screens and stuff like that, my arms are just everywhere, and then unfortunately I just hit him in the face.… I didn't think it was a flagrant 1. Unnecessary means I did [it] on purpose, which I didn't.»

Jokic gave a quick «no» response when asked postgame whether he felt this Dort foul crossed the line, different from his reaction to Dort's foul on Feb. 27, when he jumped up and confronted Dort in the moment, creating a scrum at center court, and afterward called Dort's trip «unnecessary.»

«It was over since last time,» Jokic said when asked Monday night whether there remained any hard feelings.

Nuggets coach David Adelman was critical of Dort's trip in the first matchup, calling it «malicious» and a «cheap shot.» He also indicated some frustration toward Thunder coach Mark Daigneault's postgame reaction that night, downplaying the incident.

Daigneault said before Monday night's game that he regretted his initial