The Denver Nuggets beat the Detroit Pistons on Friday night, 134-119. Nikola Jokic had a 23-point, 17-rebound, 15-assist triple-double and three other Nuggets scored 20-plus points. Denver had just a three-point lead in the final seconds of the second quarter when Detroit's Isaiah Stewart was called for a shooting foul on Jokic and the game might have actually turned.
Stewart did a pretty good job going up straight to contest Jokic's shot, but the three-time MVP still earned a trip to the line. Stewart probably disagreed with the call, but he knew better than to argue and simply ran down the court towards the Detroit bench.
And he got called for a technical foul anyway.
As far as showing up the refs goes, this was pretty benign. As pointed out on the broadcast, he might have actually been running away so he didn't say anything that would earn him a technical, but it didn't matter.
Jokic made two-of-three free throws and the Nuggets headed into halftime with a five-point lead. When they came out for the second half they outscored Detroit 39-24 in the third quarter and never looked back.
And that's how the Denver Nuggets snapped the Detroit Pistons eight-game winning streak.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Detroit’s Isaiah Stewart Gets Technical Foul for Running.
