OKLAHOMA CITY — Nikola Jokic came down with a different verdict about Lu Dort’s latest flagrant foul.

Dort was trying to fight over a screen by Jokic during the fourth quarter of Monday’s game between the Nuggets and Thunder when he swung his left arm backward, hitting Jokic in the face. The three-time MVP center went down, holding his nose in pain. Dort was handed a flagrant one foul after an official review. But when asked if Dort crossed the line, Jokic answered with a firm “no” this time.

It was in direct contrast to his candid take on Dort’s flagrant foul for tripping Jokic 10 days earlier in the same arena. Jokic had deemed that play to be an “unnecessary move” that warranted a furious reaction on the court. Dort received a flagrant two for it, resulting in an automatic ejection.

This time, Dort was allowed to stay in the game, but so were the Nuggets. They were almost out of hope with 1:12 remaining. But the flagrant enabled them to convert a 4-point possession, sparking a dramatic last-minute comeback that was almost enough to force overtime at Paycom Center. The Nuggets ultimately lost 129-126 on Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s 3-pointer with 2.7 seconds left.

“I’m done talking about that. It’s every time we play them,” Nuggets coach David Adelman said when asked about Dort’s foul. “So you’ve gotta move past it, just try to win the game. Obviously, that play helped us stay in the game. Sometimes, plays like that can flip a game. It got us to tie the game. I don’t know. His arm flailed. It happened to catch (Jokic) in the face. That’s all I’ll say about it.”

Jokic’s teammates also said they weren’t bothered by this one as much as the trip. Aaron Gordon gave the question a lot of thought before saying no, ultimately offering a reasoned response.

“One, I didn’t even see really what happened until I watched the replay,” he said. “Secondly, I mean, it gave us an opportunity to win the game. So Jok’s tough.”

Dort told ESPN that he apologized to Jokic directly for the trip, which had sparked a back-and-forth between the teams through the media over the last week.

“It was over since last time,” Jokic said when asked about any residual emotions from the play.

As for his nose: Jokic says it’s fine.

Jamal Murray’s ankle

Jamal Murray’s left ankle wasn’t at 100% health in Oklahoma City after he sprained it last Friday, but he felt good enough to play through mild pain in a marquee matchup.

“It’s OK. I just want to be on the court playing, especially a game like this that’s going to be high intensity and guys playing as hard as they did,” he said after the loss. “I want to be out there as well, so I’m glad I was able to push through.”

Murray has dealt with a number of turned ankles over the years. He said that in the moment, he thought this one might be more serious than a day-to-day injury, but he was encouraged Friday night when it didn’t swell up after Denver’s game against the Knicks. He also said he doesn’t feel like he needs to take a game off soon.

“Jamal Murray playing tonight was big time,” Adelman said. “He was hobbling around a little bit. He gave us some great effort and I think warmed up more in the second half. So was really proud of him that he came out and played for his team.”

Adelman on playing Valanciunas

Nuggets backup center Jonas Valanciunas struggled with the Thunder matchup in that Feb. 27 game that went to overtime. Adelman stuck with him in the first half at Oklahoma City, while adding Gordon to the bench lineup for extra size against a small-ball lineup.

Valanciunas and Gordon had an outstanding 18.7 net rating in 54 minutes together earlier this season, before injuries interrupted their chemistry. Their partnership didn’t go as well Monday. A 40-37 Nuggets lead turned into a five-point deficit by the time Jokic returned to the floor. Valanciunas wasn’t part of the second unit during Jokic’s brief fourth-quarter respite.

“You put your guys in coverage, a center like JV, and then you want the ball to find the lesser of the evils,” Adelman said. “Those guys made some shots. But I didn’t think that’s what hurt us. It’s just their runouts, their pace, compared to ours. I think we frustrated with the fact that we missed some easy shots around the rim, and you can’t do that. You have to continue to play the game. So we got to the six-minute mark. We were lucky to only be down a few, because we didn’t play well. And in games like this against teams this good, I mean, we can’t have lulls of six minutes.

“So we’ll do what we have to do. We’ll try to figure out what our best unit was. There were some positives (in the second unit). Spencer was really good tonight. His energy was great off the bench. And obviously, Tim (Hardaway Jr.) was really special.”

Denver won Gordon’s minutes by 14, meaning he was a plus-22 in his 22 minutes excluding the stint with Valanciunas.

Nuggets wanted to double SGA

The Nuggets sent double-teams at Shai Gilgeous-Alexander throughout the game, but with the game on the line, he was able to get to his shot by playing 1-on-1 against Jones in space — unlike the Feb. 27 game, when Denver got the ball out of his hands at the end of regulation and forced Alex Caruso to attempt an awkward game-winning floater.

The Nuggets were planning to double-team with the help coming from the middle of the floor, coaches told The Denver Post. But after Jones got switched onto the reigning MVP away from the ball, the young wing lunged for the pass to Gilgeous-Alexander and got caught in an awkward position, on Gilgeous-Alexander’s left hip with open space on the right.

Jones no longer had leverage to force his man toward the middle of the floor. Gilgeous-Alexander, recognizing Denver’s defense, stayed away from where he would be doubled, finding room for his step-back 3-pointer. He had hit one over Christian Braun moments earlier.