Look, now before I write this I want to preface this article by saying that had Nikola Jokic not been ejected, the Nuggets were going to lose in Game 5.
In the third quarter of the Suns 125-118 win over the Nuggets, MVP Nikola Jokic missed a floater over Deandre Ayton. Phoenix reeled in the rebound and kicked the ball out to guard Cameron Payne when Nikola Jokic sliced his arm down and got a whole lot of ball.
With Jokics wind up and Cameron Payne flopping to the floor, Jokic was given a flagrant two. When Payne dropped, his teammate Devin Booker rushed to his defense and tried to start a small scuffle. Below is the video with the replay.
Jesus Christ, Cameron Payne should have gotten the Academy Award for Best Male Actor in a Supporting Role. He’s been getting acting lessons from some of the greats like Robert De Niro, Denzel Washington, and Lebron James.
I can actually settle on the fact that it could possibly be called a foul because his elbow grazed his forehead but that was no where near a flagrant two.
The MVP was forced to leave the game and the Nuggets were left without their best player. With him being out, Chris Paul was able to hit elbow jumper after elbow jumper at a consistent rate.