Michael Malone quipped that Nikola Jokic was purely out to defend him after the Denver Nuggets pair were ejected from Monday's game against the Detroit Pistons.

Two-time NBA MVP Jokic and Nuggets head coach Malone were both ejected in the first quarter of Denver's 107-103 win over the struggling Pistons, who have now lost 12 straight games.

Jokic was called for a technical foul for arguing with the officials, before he was tossed for arguing another call in the final two minutes of the quarter.

Malone, meanwhile, was ejected because he went onto the court to dispute a decision.

"I think Nikola was worried about my welfare," Malone joked.

"It is tough to watch a game on TV – we were hugging on good plays and I was cursing in Serbian on the bad ones."

Denver are second in the Western Conference with a 10-4 record for the season.