The Toronto Raptors beat All-Star striker Pascal Siakam in Thursday night’s 100-83 victory over the New York Knicks in Tampa, Florida.
“It was a matter of discipline for an internal matter,” coach Raptors said. Nick Nurse, after his team won its first game of the season. “This is the decision we have made. We will continue to keep it that way.”
When asked what message she hoped to convey to the team, the nurse said: “We want to do things only in a certain way. Everyone should be a part of it. It’s as simple as that. “
While the nurse did not explain what led to the decision to replace Siakam, the 26-year-old striker received a foul in Tuesday’s 100-93 loss to the 76ers, Toronto’s third straight loss for to open the season, all of this came after the Raptors had a double-digit lead, 25.6 seconds to the end, and immediately left the field and entered the visiting locker room at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.
Siakam is expected to return for the next game in Toronto, which is on Saturday in New Orleans against the Pelicans. A source told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski that Siakam would not be fined.
Fred VanVleet, the kidnappers’ guard, said the decision to replace Siakam was communicated to the team during shooting practice on Thursday morning.
“This is something that will not stay,” VanVleet said. “It simply came to our notice then. [Pascal] was awesome. He did very well. It was great energy for us on the bench tonight, even if we hadn’t played. I can’t wait for him to come back. “
Siakam had a rocky start to the season, immediately after admitting he was not in the NBA ball at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida. In the first three games of this season, Siakam recorded 39.3% overall and made 3.7 turnovers per game.
On Thursday, Toronto managed to move away in the second half after being tied at the break, with Norman Powell replacing Siakam in the starting lineup, scoring 17 points for four rebounds, two steals, one assist and one block in while finishing a game-plus-28 in 34 minutes.
“The next man,” Powell said when asked what his thinking process was when he was told to start instead of Siakam. “Everything we face as a team is always internal, so we take care of that. We understand what happened and why, but we don’t insist on that. We focus on the game, everyone taking advantage of this opportunity being the next person to go there. We execute the game plan and do whatever it takes to get the first victory. And when Pascal returns, we have to come out with that energy, no matter what role and how many minutes you play. This energy that we play tonight has to. be consistent in the future. “