Jokic fined $50,000, Randle fined $35,000 for Nuggets-Wolves incident

NEW YORK — Denver’s Nikola Jokic was fined $50,000 and Minnesota’s Julius Randle was fined $35,000 for their roles in an altercation near the end of Game 4 of the teams’ playoff series, the NBA announced Sunday.

Both will be eligible to play when the series resumes Monday with Game 5 in Denver.

Announcement

Evidently the incident erupted when Minnesota’s Jaden McDaniels took an uncontested layup with 2.1 seconds left and the Timberwolves were already up 14 – a play the Nuggets took exception to, given how the game was decided.

Jokic, the NBA said, “initiated the incident by tackling and shoving” McDaniels in reaction to that play. Randle, the league said, “escalated the incident by forcefully entering the fray and shoving Nuggets guard Bruce Brown.”

Jokic and Randle were assessed technical fouls and ejected from the game.

“He scored when we stopped playing,” Jokic said. “You guys saw what happened.”

Announcement

The teams meet in the postseason for the third time in the last four years. Minnesota leads the series 3-1, but will be without guard Donte DiVincenzo for the rest of the season due to a torn Achilles tendon and will be without guard Anthony Edwards indefinitely due to a knee injury. DiVincenzo and Edwards were both injured on Saturday.