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Raptors bench Pascal Siakam Thursday because he left for locker room early Tuesday

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With Trae Young taking another step forward and their defense making stops, it sure looks like the Atlanta Hawks are a legit playoff contender.

With 25.6 seconds left in the game Tuesday night and the Raptors down five to the 76ers, Pascal Siakam intentionally fouled Tobias Harris to stop the clock. That was a frustrated Siakam’s sixth foul of the night — he had picked up five fouls in seven minutes of the fourth quarter — and he was done.

He walked past the Toronto bench and straight to the locker room, no goodbyes to the opposing team. Or his teammates. Or anyone else.

Thursday, Pascal Siakam and Toronto were set to face the Knicks when word came down: Siakam is out for the night for disciplinary reasons, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic.

This put a big hole in the Toronto starting lineup, Siakam is a primary shot creator for the team. He is averaging 18.7 points, 9 rebounds, and 4.7 assists a game this season, however, the added shot creation burden has hurt his efficiency. Siakam is shooting 39.3% overall this season and 33.3% from three, a true shooting percentage of just 47.7%.

Norman Powell slid into Siakam’s starting spot against New York.