Mat Ishbia shuns suspension, says he has 'a lot of respect' for Nikola Jokic
Following the altercation involving Phoenix Suns owner Mat Ishbia and Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic in Game 4, Ishbia went on Twitter to address the incident and prevent it from escalating for both parties.
Great win for the Suns last night in an amazing series so far!
That should be and is the only story. Suspending or fining anyone over last nights incident would not be right. I have alot of respect for Jokic and don’t want to see anything like that. Excited for game 5! Go Suns!
The incident between the two occurred during the 2:36 mark in the second quarter when Suns' Josh Okogie went straight to the crowd after trying to make a hustle play to secure the ball. Jokic, as he explained in his post-game interviews, saw the potential for a 5-on-4 break against the Suns' defense and wanted the ball back immediately.
The ball landed on Mat Ishbia's hands and even went over to another fan's possession. In the chaos of it all, Jokic was seen asking for the ball and seemingly made contact with his left arm on Ishbia's chest.
During his post-game interviews, Jokic gave his perspective on what happened with Mat Ishbia and the conversation he had with one of the referees, Tony Brothers.
"[Brothers] told me I was elbowing the fan. But the fan put the hand on me first. So I thought the league's supposed to protect us or whatever, but maybe I'm wrong, so we will see."
Aside from the altercation, it was a disappointing ball game for Jokic and the Nuggets as they were unable to steal a road victory against the Suns after dominating and protecting home-court in the first two games of the series.
Nikola Jokic had an incredible performance as he tried to will his team to victory with his 53 points on 20-30 shooting, including 2-4 from three-point range. The Nuggets' star also made 11-13 free-throws from the charity stripe along with 11 assists and 4 rebounds.
As incredible as those numbers were, it was not enough to secure the win as the Devin Booker and Kevin Durant dynamic proved to be too much to handle yet again as they combined for 72 points.
The road team was unable to make things difficult for the Suns as the home team shot 56.8%, including 44.8% from three-point range.
Nuggets coach Michael Malone on the incident between Nikola Jokic and Suns owner Mat Ishbia
Following the Game 4 loss, Nuggets coach Michael Malone spoke to the media to address the incident between Jokic and Suns owner Mat Ishbia.
"I think it's crazy that Nikola got a technical foul in that situation," Malone said. "He is going to get the ball, and some fan is holding on to the ball like he wants to be a part of the game. Just give the ball up, man."
He was then asked a follow-up question whether he knew who the fan Jokic made contact with, to which Malone responded candidly.
"I don't give a s**t. I really don't care," Malone said.