The brothers of both players weigh in on social media, expressing their emotions about Nikola Jokic, the NBA MVP's retaliatory bodycheck on Markieff Morse on Monday night.
The league is looking into whether further punishment should be imposed on the Denver Nuggets star after his altercation with Morris with 2 minutes left in the fourth quarter of the Nuggets' 113–96 win over Heat. Markieff's twin brother Marcus Morris, the LA Clippers forward, tweeted.
Marcus Morris said that Jokic's act of shoving his brother behind was unethical and that he would never forget it.
"Waited until bro turned his back. NOTED," Marcus Morris tweeted Monday night, with an emoji of his pen in hand.
According to The Denver Post, this prompted Jokic's brother, Strahinja, and Nemanja to create a Twitter account called "@JokicBrothers" in response to Marcus Morris.
The new account tweeted "You should leave it as is rather than publicly threatening our brother!" Your brother did a dirty job first. We will be there waiting to take you one step further if you wish. Jokic Brothers."
Jokic stated that he felt bad about Markieff's hit on him. Jamie Schwaberow/Getty Images
After taking exception to Markieff Morris' foul, Nikola Jokic could face suspension. Jokic bounced the ball, and was moving it downcourt when he handed the ball to Jokic. Jokic, the Heat forward, tried to stop play by giving a hard foul with his left elbow on Jokic's exposed right as the center was delivering an overhead passing. Jokic, furious at Morris' departure, took a few steps to deliver a hard right forearm shove, with his weight behind him, to Morris' back. This sent the Heat forward flying toward the floor.
Morris was given a flagrant 2 and Jokic was dismissed.
Erik Spoelstra, Heat coach, said that it was a dangerous and filthy play after the game. "Keef took an offensive foul. It was one of those quick-break-take fouls, which he did with the shoulder. Although you might think it was more than just slapping someone, the film clearly shows that it was a take foul. This is how I saw it. The play that follows is just completely uncalled for."
Jokic finished the game with a triple-double, scoring 25 points, 15 rebounds, and 10 assists. According to the reigning MVP, he felt the need protect himself. However, he later felt terrible after pushing Morris in the back.
Jokic said to reporters that it was a stupid play after the game. "I feel terrible. "I feel bad. It was a take foul. It was going to be a take-foul. It was a take foul. It was probably a dirty play. I needed to protect my self. It was a bad feeling. I'm not supposed to feel that way. But I have to protect myself.
Jokic added that he didn't show him the clip and his head actually snapped back [after he shove]. So I feel really bad... It's a terrible move.
Jamal Murray was already out of action and the Nuggets were without Michael Porter Jr. because of a lower back injury. Denver may be without its top three players against Indiana on Wednesday.
Michael Malone, Nuggets coach, said that Jokic could be suspended. "I will not waste any time looking into my crystal ball or my tea leaves. I don't have that. Until they inform me otherwise, he is available. He'd be available Wednesday night, and I don't see why.
Spoelstra stated that Morris was fine after the hard foul, and was moving about in the locker room.
Spoelstra stated that the whole thing could have turned out a lot worse if Markieff had been facing Jokic. He blindsided him and made a dangerous play because he was able to turn his back on Markieff.
Both the officials and coaching staff tried to maintain peace after the altercation. Jokic was sitting on the bench as the court was still being resolved. Jimmy Butler, from Miami, shouted at the Nuggets. Jokic had to be stopped.
Spoelstra said, "The video and the picture are worth a thousand words," when Spoelstra was asked about the reaction of the Heat players to the incident.
