The Toronto Raptors put All-Star forward Pascal Siakam on the bench in Thursday night’s 100-83 win over the New York Knicks in Tampa, Florida.
“It was a matter of discipline for an internal issue,” said the Raptors coach. Nick Nurse, after his team won the first game of the season. ‘That is the decision we made. We just keep it that way. ‘
When asked what message he hoped to send the team, Sister said, “We just want to do things a certain way. Everyone should be a part of it. It’s that simple.”
While Nurse didn’t elaborate on what led to the decision to put Siakam on the bench, the 26-year-old got an error in Tuesday’s 100-93 defeat to the 76ers, Toronto’s third straight defeat to open the season that all came after the Raptors had a double-digit lead, with 25.6 seconds to go, and immediately left the field and entered the visiting locker room within the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.
Siakam is expected to return for Toronto’s next game, which is against the Pelicans in New Orleans on Saturday. A source told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski that Siakam will not be fined.
Raptors point guard Fred VanVleet said the decision to put Siakam on the bench was communicated to the team on Thursday morning during shooting practice.
“This is something that will not last,” said VanVleet. “It’s done and done. [Pascal] It was amazing. He handled it very well. It gave us a lot of energy on the couch tonight, even though I hadn’t played. I can’t wait for him to come back. “
It’s been a rocky start to the season for Siakam right after she admitted she wasn’t in the NBA bubble at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida. In the first three games of this season, Siakam shoots a total of 39.3% and achieves 3.7 turnover per game.
On Thursday, Toronto was able to walk away in the second half after a tie at half-time, with Norman Powell, who replaced Siakam in the starting line-up, scoring 17 points for four rebounds, two steals, an assist and a block while taking a game-plus-28 in 34 minutes.
“The next guy,” Powell said, when asked what his thought process was when told he started instead of Siakam. “Everything that we deal with as a team is always internal, so we take care of that. We understand what happened and why, but we don’t insist on it. We focus on the game and all seize this opportunity by being the next guy to go there, execute the game plan and do whatever it takes to get that first win. And when Pascal comes back we still have to come out with that energy no matter the role and how many minutes you That energy that we’re playing tonight needs to be consistent in the future. ”