DENVER -- Nikola Jokic was fined $50,000 and Julius Randle $35,000 for their parts in an altercation during the closing moments of Saturday night's Game 4 between the Denver Nuggets and Minnesota Timberwolves.
No suspensions were announced.
The skirmish started after Timberwolves wing Jaden McDaniels decided to shoot an uncontested layup with 1.3 seconds left in a blowout 112-96 Timberwolves win.
Jokic, standing at the half-court line expecting the clock to expire, took exception to McDaniels' exclamation point and confronted him in front of the Timberwolves' bench, inciting a shoving match that turned into a mosh pit.
Jokic said afterward that he felt McDaniels violated an unwritten rule and he didn't regret his actions "because he scored after everybody stopped playing." Jokic had words for McDaniels as the two came chest-to-chest.
"I don't know what [Jokic] said, to be honest," McDaniels said. "I just seen someone who was big as hell."
Randle went directly to the center of the mix and escalated the situation with several shoves. After review, both Jokic and Randle were ejected, and after the league's review Sunday, both received fines.
There was some curiosity whether the league would hand out one-game suspensions for players -- including Aaron Gordon, Jonas Valanciunas, Rudy Gobert and Bones Hyland -- leaving the bench area during the altercation, but the NBA didn't deem any action suspension worthy.
The league altered its rule a few years ago, providing more leniency than the infamous ruling nearly 19 years ago that cost the Phoenix Suns rotation players for a key Game 5 with the series tied. The NBA now takes into account how far a player ventures from the bench and whether they entered the immediate proximity of the altercation.
Game 5 is Monday night in Denver. The Timberwolves lead the series 3-1 but lost Donte DiVincenzo and Anthony Edwards to injuries in Game 4.
