LOS ANGELES — At a critical and confusing juncture of the Nuggets’ latest win over the Lakers, Nikola Jokic used a high-awareness maneuver to attempt to prevent the Lakers from challenging a call he knew would be overturned. The referees thwarted him.
With 5:20 remaining in the fourth quarter Saturday night, Jokic and Anthony Davis were fighting for a rebound of a Nuggets missed shot, when the ball ricocheted off Jokic and out of bounds. It was called out of bounds — off the Lakers. Denver’s ball. Replay showed that a foul probably should have been called on Davis, but the ball clearly touched Jokic last. As LeBron James adamantly encouraged coach Darvin Ham to challenge the ruling, Jokic was trying to think two steps ahead.
He wanted to keep possession, but he also didn’t want to rush the baseline out-of-bounds play. So he stood in the inbounder’s position, gesturing for the official to hand him the ball. When that happened, he promptly laid the ball on the ground and started directing his teammates to new spots on the floor, wanting a new inbounder.
“It was on-purpose,” Jokic said after a 124-114 win. “… Because when (the officials) give the ball to the inbounder, they cannot challenge it. So I grabbed the ball and I throw it down.”
Ham attempted to call a timeout again before play resumed, and the officials granted it as well as the challenge. A frustrated Jokic pleaded his case with the baseline referee.
“They told me, we tried to give you the ball, and you didn’t want it,” Jokic said. “And I laughed at them.”
Los Angeles took a 108-105 lead shortly after the successful challenge, but Denver ended the game on a 19-6 run. Jokic finished with 35 points in the win.
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