Nikola Jokic got the last laugh after all. Or the first one, at least.

After the Nuggets center completed warm-ups an hour before a massive Game 5 of their playoff semifinal with the Phoenix Suns, he spotted Mat Ishbia, with whom he’d sparred during Game 4 this past Sunday in Phoenix.

As cameras closed in, the two-time NBA MVP dribbled over to the Suns owner’s courtside seat. He then gently handed him the basketball and gave the billionaire a big hug.

A warm embrace won’t cover a $25,000 fine from the league, mind you. But it’s a start.

With tensions diffused, those same cameras then panned over to Ishbia’s left, where the show before the game got even better. And stranger.

In a twist we couldn’t make up if we tried, sitting two seats over from the mortgage billionaire and former Michigan State basketball player, wearing a bright Suns orange shirt, was a face we hadn’t seen around the Front Range in a while.

Hang on. Is that former CU football coach Mel Tucker?

Yep. Midnight Mel, whose departure from the job in Boulder in the middle of the night to join Michigan State is now the stuff of Buffs legend. Or infamy, depending on who you talk to.

Ishbia might not be able to sell a flop on national television. But clearly, the man’s got a sense of humor.

Or maybe a secret desire to troll CU fans.

You’re Public Enemy No. 3 among Nuggets fans at Ball Arena — Hot-shooting Devin Booker and Kevin Durant came in ranked Nos. 1 and 2 — and with everybody watching your every move, you show up to hostile territory with arguably the most divisive Colorado sports figure of the last five years?

Madness.

Genius.

Heck, maybe both.

“What, did you enter the transfer portal, too?” I shouted at Tucker after the Nuggets were done warming up.

Mel, personable as ever, just laughed.

We shook hands. He didn’t want to go on the record. But the Michigan State coach did intimate that Ishbia was a close friend. Tucker noted that he’d even tried to land a spot next to the Suns owner for Game 1 or Game 2 last week at Ball Arena.

All’s Mel that ends Mel, right? The Nuggets even left little signs on each courtside seat — including Ishbia’s — before the game reminding them of the NBA’s “Conduct Advisory” when it comes to fan behavior.

The guys on the bench were asked about Ishbia and Jokic, whose kerfuffle over a loose ball on the sidelines in Phoenix went viral and had some talking heads calling for the Joker’s suspension for the series.

By early Tuesday night, though, both head coaches sounded more than ready to move on.

“I’m just ready to play,” Suns coach Monty Williams said.

“I’m not even going to speak on it. It’s old news now,” Nuggets boss Michael Malone said before the game. “We’re getting ready for Game 5 in front of the best fans in the world.”

Those fans could use a little CU star power if this series goes the distance and we’re staring at a winner-take-all Game 7 at Ball Arena on Sunday. Anybody know if Josh Kroenke has Deion Sanders’ number?

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