PHOENIX — Say there’s an NBA fan who paid $4 billion for a courtside seat.

He’s above the law.

The Suns didn’t beat the Nuggets 129-124 Friday night in Game 3 at Footprint Center because Suns owner Mat Ishbia drew a technical foul on Nikola Jokic. Yep, you read that right.

The Suns simply, straight-up beat the Nuggets.

But the drama ratcheted up a few levels when Ishbia refused to give the ball to Jokic and flopped into his seat as Jokic grazed him with a slight shove. Bzzzt! Technical foul on… Joker?

The Nuggets believed it should have been an automatic ejection of Ishbia, who stuck around.

“I don’t give a (expletive)” if he owns the team, Michael Malone said.

Buckle up. The Nuggets have a serious battle on their hands in a Western Conference semifinal.

The Phoenix Phloppers poked the bear.

Will the other Nuggets poke back?

“The fan put a hand on me first. I thought the league was supposed to protect us,” Jokic explained afterward.

Even if the fan forked over $4 billion to buy the team in December?

“He’s a fan, isn’t he?” Jokic said. “He’s a fan. He cannot influence the game by holding the ball.”

This is the kind of nonsensical drama that one day’s going to send our beloved Joker back to Serbia before he should be done collecting MVP awards. Big fella hates controversy the most.

His point that courtside fans should be treated the same no matter their lot in life stands.

Has a proud Suns franchise been reduced to a billionaire owner doing his best Shane Battier impression in order to win a playoff series? Or did the Suns owner understand it’s the playoffs and earning a free throw was worth it for the cause? The answer is behind Door No. 2.

The Suns tied the series because they’re pulling out all the stops. They evened the score because their other guys were better than Denver’s other guys. Even the team owner did his best to interrupt the Nuggets’ rhythm.

A spectacular series like this takes everybody.

Tony Brothers, the official who dispensed the technical, explained: “I just deemed the technical foul the appropriate penalty for what happened over there. He didn’t just run over and hit a fan. There was some engagement, so I deemed the technical foul the appropriate penalty.”

Jokic had 53 points — a career-high in the regular season or postseason. He was awesome, and it wasn’t enough. Michael Porter Jr. had 11 points and 10 rebounds. He was good when the Nuggets remembered he’s on the team. Everyone else? OK. Everyone else was just OK.

And OK isn’t going to beat the Suns, because the Suns have two superstars to the Nuggets’ one. Devin Booker and Kevin Durant combined for 158 points over two games in Phoenix.

Rule No. 1 here in the desert: never lay a golf wager against a stranger with a good tan. Rule No. 2: never challenge the Suns to a game of HORSE. Booker and Durant both had 36 points.

And what about a Nuggets defense that had been solid through most of the postseason?

“We left it somewhere in the desert. It didn’t arrive in Phoenix,” Malone said.

The Suns lost star point guard Chris Paul to injury and won the next two games. Losing CP3 was a bad break for the Nuggets. How does that happen? Well, start here: the Suns reserves scored 42 points. The Nuggets reserves had 11. 

Did you notice how the Suns chose to go with only one defender on Jokic? The Suns are cool with Jokic scoring 53, because they don’t think the other Nuggets are good enough to win.

“They’re doing that on purpose, so we’ve got to figure out ways to make it happen,” said Porter Jr., who had 11 points and 10 rebounds and must be considered a second option to Jokic.

“We definitely got to make some adjustments. I think they kind of figured out what we’re trying to do right now,” Porter added.

Ishbia played his college ball at Michigan State. Did he learn the flop from Tom Izzo? If you remember, Ishbia also bid on the Broncos. He could be your football team’s owner right now. He could be flopping at Mile High. Truth be told, the Broncos could use the extra yards.

But the Suns got a free throw out of the ordeal, and in this series every point is going to matter.

So will everybody involved.

Jamal Murray must get more teammates involved. Someone must dig into their pride and slow Booker and Durant. Shoot, somebody lead Mr. Stan Kroenke down to a courtside seat for Game 5 on Tuesday night at Ball Arena. See if the Nuggets’ owner can draw a charge.