It took the league just 6 hours to review and issue the verdict on the Target Center mass brawl. No doubt, the financial repercussions for both Nikola Jokic and Julius Randle are severe, but the NBA could have provided a harsher statement. Which could have turned the entire series on its end as we wait for Game 5 in the Ball Arena.

The game was already done with 1.3 seconds left as Minnesota Timberwolves‘ Jaden McDaniels went for an uncontested layup. The Denver Nuggets, especially their star center Jokic, took offence to it and sprinted down the court to confront his rival. Amid the pushing and shoving, the benches cleared out, the coaches got involved, and female fans had to move away as a brawl ensued. Randle was the first one to barge in between Jokic and McDaniels with equal intensity, and that’s how the league viewed it.

Denver’s Nikola Jokic was fined $50,000, and Minnesota’s Julius Randle was fined $35,000 for their roles in an altercation near the end of Game 4 of the teams’ playoff series. It was ESPN’s Shams Charania who previously reported about the investigation being conducted, including interviews with involved players and officials, and a review of the footage. The NBA announced on Sunday that the Joker, “initiated the incident by confronting and shoving” McDaniels.

The Serb finished Saturday with 24 points, 15 rebounds, and nine assists, but he connected on only 8 of 22 shots and missed all three of his 3-point attempts. His frustration towards McDaniels also stems from the fact that the Wolves star called out the entire Nuggets team by name and stated they were bad defenders. The Joker stayed firm in his stance on charging aggressively towards his rival.

“I don’t regret [going after McDaniels],” the MVP finalist stated. “Because he scored, and everybody stopped playing. Come on, guys. You saw it.” He believed there was an unwritten rule to let the clock run out in this situation, and it was not about firing up his teammates. That’s why the league put a bigger fine on him. But the NBA did consider Randle’s action as he “escalated the incident by forcefully inserting himself into the scrum and shoving Nuggets guard-forward Bruce Brown.”

Fortunately, both will be eligible to play when the series resumes Monday with Game 5 in Denver. If you are wondering why McDaniels was unpunished, it’s because he didn’t start it, nor escalate it, and he did nothing but defend himself and stand his ground. For this scuffle during Game 4, only Jokic and Randle were assessed technical fouls and ejected.

We have previously seen that Draymond Green has faced multiple suspensions for escalating on-court incidents, including a one-game playoff suspension in 2023. In fact, the Warriors star was also suspended for five games in the 2023-24 season for forcibly grabbing Gobert around the neck. The incident in Game 4 did not escalate to that level from a physical standpoint. But Game 5 could have been very different if the league had leaned towards harsher punishments.

Not just Nikola Jokic and Julius Randle, four other stars avoid suspension

With Donte DiVincenzo injured due to an Achilles’ tear and Anthony Edwards suffering a bone bruise on his knee, the series already looks different. The Nuggets will be confident that they hold the advantage and will look to overturn the 3-1 deficit. But suspensions could further complicate Denver’s already fragile position.

Tempers flared on the sidelines in front of the Timberwolves’ bench, as Aaron Gordon and Jonas Valanciunas left the Nuggets’ bench and crossed half-court during the altercation. Meanwhile, Minnesota’s Rudy Gobert and Bones Hyland both stepped onto the court from the Wolves’ bench. But the NBA rules state that players must “remain in the vicinity of the bench” during a on-court incident or be subject to an automatic suspension.

However, none of those four players were punished. The league did not provide any reasoning for these four players. Now, the Nuggets will try to overcome a 3-1 series deficit for the first time since the 2020 playoffs. That year, they did it twice, the first team in NBA history to overcome multiple 3-1 series deficits in a single postseason.