Let the beef continue. Usually, regular-season games only have a 24-hour shelf life of talking points. But the Oklahoma City Thunder‘s epic 127-121 overtime win over the Denver Nuggets dominated the entire weekend and then some.

The Thunder won the drama-filled heavyweight matchup. Over the years, the Nuggets have become their top NBA rival. Only makes sense. After all, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Nikola Jokic have had a trilogy of MVP battles over the last three seasons.

Friday’s latest chapter involved some extracurricular activity that boiled over all night. On a route inbounds play, Lu Dort tripped Jokic. The three-time MVP winner was irate. He saw red. He got up and immediately went after him. His anger was eventually directed towards Jaylin Williams, who interfered.

After the scuffle, Dort was ejected with a flagrant foul two. Jokic and Williams each received double technical fouls. The Thunder eventually won the thriller as Gilgeous-Alexander sat out the overtime due to hitting his minutes restriction in regulation.

A couple of days later, Nuggets head coach David Adelman reopened the wound. He alleged Dort’s trip had bad intentions from the start. And that they shouldn’t be surprised to see Jokic react the way he did.

“That was malicious. It was a cheap shot. Lu Dort is a great player, and that’s not what I’ve seen him do before. But at some point, you have to stand up for yourself, and the team does as well,” Adelman said. “They’re a great team. That game was what it was. But yeah, Nikola, that’s who he is, man. You can’t have the success he’s had and not be that competitive. He has emotions inside of him that he keeps in check, but the guy is very capable and very willing to emotionally respond.”

On the same day, Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault was asked about Adelman’s thoughts before a 100-87 win over the Dallas Mavericks. He went on the high ground in his response — knowing if he said anything similar to his peer, it’d only add fuel to the fire and grow a distraction.

“I would echo and repeat what I’ve said every time we’ve played Denver for a long time, which is I have nothing but respect. We have nothing but respect for Denver. We have respect from top to bottom,” Daigneault said. “We certainly have respect for Jokic, Gordon, Murray just because those guys have endured together for so long and had so much success, but we have respect for their staff. I mentioned that last year, after the playoffs. Like I said, I have nothing but the highest respect. I said it the other night — the teams make each other better. It is a great matchup because of that, and that’s all I’d say about it.”

The Thunder and Nuggets have two more regular-season dates. The former has won the first two matchups this year. Considering the two left as must-watch TV.

This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: After Jokic-Dort drama, Mark Daigneault has ‘nothing but respect’ for Nuggets