Nikola Jokic put in a majestic performance with 53 points — his NBA scoring record — but the Denver Nuggets squandered their star's mega performance and fell Sunday to the Phoenix Suns 129-124. Thus, this semifinal of the West was tied with two wins per side. However, the defeat was not the main reason for bitterness for the phenomenal Serbian pivot, who was completely perplexed after the crossing with Mat Ishbia, owner of the Arizona franchise and stressed that the NBA must protect players during any interference from spectators.
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The referee told me that I had elbowed that fan but the fan put his hands on me first," Jokic told a news conference. "The league is supposed to protect us (players) or whatever. But maybe I'm wrong," he said ironically when reconstructing the strangest moment of the match when a loose ball ended up outside the court and in the hands of Ishbia, a wealthy real estate businessman.
Jokic approached the front row to take the ball and take out as soon as possible taking advantage of the fact that they had numerical superiority with a rival player on the ground, but Ishbia retained it, so the Serbian, with a strange gesture, slightly pushed with his elbow to the owner of Phoenix – who exaggerated before dropping – and a spectator did the same with Jokic while other fans dedicated shouts to the Denver referent.
Without this incident with some tension reaching major, Jokic took a technical foul and the spectator was expelled from the stadium.
Asked after the game by reporters if he knew that person was the owner of the Suns, Jokic said he should be treated like a fan.
"I know who he is, but he's a fan, isn't he? Sitting on the court, he's a fan, isn't he? That doesn't mean that because of who he is... He can't influence the game by holding the ball," said the Serb, who said Ishbia should have been sent off the stadium.
Another scene of the cross between Nikola Jokic and Mat Ishbia. Photo: AFP
Later, another reporter asked him if he feared any fines or penalties from the NBA for what happened. "Why? (...) His hands were on me. But aren't they going to protect me? Are they going to protect the fan? I mean, not me as a person. I'm talking about me as a player. They can do whatever they want, of course, they don't care, but I think they're supposed to protect the players."
Referee Tony Brothers, in charge of this meeting between Nuggets and Suns, explained his vision of what happened to the pool of NBA journalists. "The ball went into the corner and one of the spectators was holding the ball. Jokic went to get the ball, took it away and then deliberately pushed it and threw it (into the chair) and that's why he received a technical for unsportsmanlike conduct," he explained.
On why Jokic wasn't ejected, Brothers said a technique was the "appropriate penalty for what happened there." The fifth game of this series will be played Tuesday back at the home of Denver.
Source: EFE
