Nikola Jokic called for bogus 5th foul against Heat in Game 4

Nikola Jokic was called for a bogus fifth foul during Game 4 of the NBA Finals on Friday night against the Miami Heat.

Jokic’s Denver Nuggets were leading the Heat 86-76 with 9:24 left in the game and had the ball. Bruce Brown was dribbling the ball for Denver and was looking to get it into Jokic, who was battling Bam Adebayo at the elbow. Adebayo flopped after some contact between him and Jokic and drew a foul call.

Scott Foster’s crew bought what Bam Adebayo was selling here and Jokic ended up with his 5th foul #NBAFinals pic.twitter.com/v58W3nuWJ1

— Bad Sports Refs (@BadSportsRefs) June 10, 2023

That was the fifth foul of the game called on Jokic, who was then subbed out for Aaron Gordon. Jokic did not come back into the game until there was 4:09 left.

That foul call kept Denver’s best player off the floor for five minutes of game time, which is significant.

At the time Jokic had been called for his fifth foul, no Miami player had more than three fouls.