NBA disciplines Nuggets-Timberwolves fight. Was anyone suspended?

With just two days between games, the NBA has promptly sorted through discipline stemming from the Denver Nuggets - Minnesota Timberwolves altercation , with no players drawing suspensions. The NBA announced Sunday, April 26 that Nuggets All-Star center and Most Valuable Player finalist Nikola Jokić has been fined $50,000, and Timberwolves forward Julius Randle has been fined $35,000, following a review of the incident. NBA executive vice president and head of basketball operations James Jones oversaw the league investigation and levied the fines.

Jokić’s fine was for initiating the altercation and shoving Timberwolves forward Jaden McDaniels, and Randle’s is for escalating the event by “forcefully inserting himself into the scrum” and shoving Nuggets guard Bruce Brown. The NBA conducts its investigations by reviewing footage from inside the arena and speaking to parties involved. Although the NBA has rules for players drawing automatic suspensions for leaving the bench area during altercations, the league weighs the role those individuals play in any fight.

That allowed players like Nuggets forward Aaron Gordon, who clearly left the bench area despite not being checked into the game, to avoid a suspension. The fight started with just 1. 3 seconds left in Game 4, an eventual 112-96 Timberwolves victory Saturday, April 25, when the outcome was already decided.

But the Timberwolves, looking to burn the clock, tossed the ball up to forward Jaden McDaniels. Rather than dribble it out for the end of the game, McDaniels put up an uncontested layup to push Minnesota’s lead to 16 points. Jokić took exception to the layup and rushed over from half court to confront McDaniels, eventually getting in McDaniels’ face and shoving him.