{"id":718838,"date":"2026-04-26T20:21:23","date_gmt":"2026-04-26T20:21:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/718838\/"},"modified":"2026-04-26T20:21:23","modified_gmt":"2026-04-26T20:21:23","slug":"the-controversial-play-that-enraged-nikola-jokic-and-sparked-nuggets-timberwolves-scuffle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/718838\/","title":{"rendered":"The controversial play that enraged Nikola Jokic and sparked Nuggets-Timberwolves scuffle"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"An<\/p>\n

An image collage containing 2 images, Image 1 shows Players and staff from the Denver Nuggets and Minnesota Timberwolves in a scrum on the basketball court, Image 2 shows Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic exits the court after being ejected<\/p>\n

The Nuggets had stopped playing defense \u2014 but Jaden McDaniels had other ideas.<\/p>\n

With Minnesota up 110-96 over Denver as the clock wound down in Game 4 on Saturday, the forward infuriated Nikola Jokic when he added an uncontested layup to Minnesota\u2019s tally.<\/p>\n

The garbage time score caused Jokic to immediately run over to the other side of the court and confront McDaniels, as he shoved his opponent towards the Minnesota bench<\/a>.<\/p>\n

McDaniels then grabbed hold of the Serbian\u2019s jersey and from there, a skirmish ensued.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t regret it, because he scored after everybody stopped playing,\u201d Jokic told reporters after the game.<\/p>\n

That sentiment was also echoed by Denver coach David Adelman, whose team is now down 3-1 in the first-round series.<\/p>\n

\"Nikola<\/p>\n

Nikola Jokic was ejected after confronting Jaden McDaniels about a garbage time layup on April 25, 2026. Getty Images<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The Nuggets Nikola Jokic (15) and Timberwolves\u2019 Julius Randle (30) engage in a scuffle during Game 4 on April 25, 2026. Denver Post via Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t like what McDaniels did,\u201d Adelman said. \u201cThe game was over. The game was conceded. In 2026, that stuff just doesn\u2019t happen anymore. That\u2019s something that happens in the \u201980s, where teams would continue to score. But that\u2019s who he is.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ultimately, Jokic and Julius Randle \u2014 who also shoved others during the fracas \u2014 were ejected from the contest with 1.3 seconds remaining.<\/p>\n

For his part, McDaniels said after the game: \u201cClock still be running. So I\u2019m going to go score.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Jokic<\/p>\n

Jokic reacts after being ejected during the Nuggets\u2019 Game 4 loss to the Timberwolves. Imagn Images<\/p>\n

\"McDaniels<\/p>\n

McDaniels did not apologize for his move after the game. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not the first time the 25-year-old has acted as an antagonist this series, as he referred to Jokic, Aaron Gordon, Jamal Murray, Tim Hardaway and Cam Johnson as \u201cbad defenders\u201d after his team\u2019s Game 2 win.<\/p>\n

The Timberwolves were led on Saturday by a 43-point outburst off the bench from Ayo Dosunmu, but they\u2019ll now be without Anthony Edwards for several weeks<\/a> after the All-Star left Game 4 with a knee injury.<\/p>\n

ESPN\u2019s Shams Charania<\/a> reported on Sunday that Edwards avoided ligament damage but is set to miss time with a bone bruise and hyperextension.<\/p>\n

Minnesota also lost Donte DiVincenzo for the series and season<\/a>\u00a0to a torn Achilles tendon, Charania reported.<\/p>\n

However, Gordon has also been limited by a calf injury for Denver while his teammate Peyton Watson also missed Game 4 with a hamstring strain.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An image collage containing 2 images, Image 1 shows Players and staff from the Denver Nuggets and Minnesota…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":718839,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3781],"tags":[877,375,4102,7,250,301,187,3943,372,568,377,762,376,307,6,253,302,1146,1415,308],"class_list":["post-718838","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-denver-nuggets","tag-aaron-gordon","tag-anthony-edwards","tag-ayo-dosunmu","tag-basketball","tag-david-adelman","tag-denver","tag-denver-nuggets","tag-denvernuggets","tag-donte-divincenzo","tag-getty-images","tag-jaden-mcdaniels","tag-jamal-murray","tag-julius-randle","tag-minnesota","tag-nba","tag-nikola-jokic","tag-nuggets","tag-peyton-watson","tag-the-nuggets","tag-timberwolves"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116472872961644107","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/718838","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=718838"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/718838\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/718839"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=718838"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=718838"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=718838"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}