NBA President of League Operations Byron Spruell announced Nikola Jokić will be suspended a single game without pay after shoving Miami's Markieff Morris to the floor from behind during Monday night's game.
The Nuggets center will miss Wednesday's game against the Pacers.
Morris, though, did not get off free. He received a $50,000 fine for committing a Flagrant Foul 2 on Jokić that triggered the on-court altercation. Miami forward Jimmy Butler was also fined $30,000 "for attempting to escalate the altercation and failing to comply with an NBA Security interview," which was part of the review process for the altercation.
With just 2:39 remaining in the fourth quarter of Denver's 113-96 victory, Jokić was bumped by Morris, and instead of walking it off, he retaliated. A stretcher was initially taken out, but Morris did walk off with the help of Miami medical staff.
Both Jokić and Morris were ejected from Monday's contest. Heat coach Erik Spoelstra addressed the incident postgame, calling Jokić's shove a "dangerous, dirty play."
After the game, the Heat shared that Morris was being evaluated for a neck injury. Morris took to Twitter to share that while he always takes "hard fouls", he's "never hit a man with his back turned." Marcus Morris, the twin brother and longtime teammate of Markieff Morris, was not happy after seeing the play.
"Waited till bro turned his back smh. NOTED," he tweeted while adding the "taking notes" emoji.
Jokić's brothers responded to Marcus from a newly launched Twitter account, tweeting, "@MookMorris2 You should leave this the way it is instead of publicly threatening our brother! Your brother made a dirty play first. If you want to make a step further be sure we will be waiting for you !! Jokic Brothers"
