Nikola Jokic received only a slap on the wrist from the NBA. His Nuggets teammates who abandoned the bench? Even less than that. But Timberwolves coach Chris Finch has no issue with the light consequences.
Before Game 5 between the Nuggets and Timberwolves on Monday night, Finch applauded the lack of suspensions handed out by the league for an altercation at the end of Game 4. Jokic took exception to a garbage time layup by Minnesota’s Jaden McDaniels with 1.3 seconds left in that game, confronting the Timberwolves wing who’s gotten under Denver’s skin throughout this first-round playoff series.
“Thought the league did an outstanding job adjudicating that situation,” Finch said. “Honestly, I’m not mad at Jokic. I think both players, having coached both, are fierce competitors. It’s one of those things that happened in the game, and that’s the most important thing. The game was still going on (when McDaniels scored). But I don’t think that there was any ill intent even though there was a lot of emotions.”
The NBA investigated the incident on Sunday. Jokic received a $50,000 fine for starting the altercation, which spilled into the court-side seats at Target Center. Minnesota’s Julius Randle was fined $35,000 for his involvement in it. Players who left their benches were not penalized, even though the NBA rulebook states they’re subject to one-game suspensions.
Players who travel farther from their bench are more at risk when the league litigates these incidents. In this case, that meant Denver’s players, including Aaron Gordon.
“I thought the league did a good job of letting that thing breathe to the point where they could sort it out,” said Finch, who used to be an assistant coach for Denver under Michael Malone.
Gordon was ruled out for Game 5 anyway with left calf tightness, which has been ongoing since Game 2 last week. He struggled to play through pain for 23 minutes in Game 4, registering nine points and one rebound.
McDaniels has been the main character of the series, between his Game 4 show-boating and his trash talk after Game 2. He called out Jokic and other Nuggets players by name for being bad defenders. The Timberwolves proceeded to win the next two games at home, taking a commanding 3-1 series lead.
Finch said he didn’t anticipate the Nuggets attempting to take any retaliation against McDaniels in Game 5.
“We’ve gotta keep our heads no matter what’s coming at us, whether that’s a big response by Denver, or anything else. So we don’t expect that,” the veteran coach said before opening tip. “That’s not necessarily the type of team that they are. But we do expect it to be ultra-physical.”
