Draymond Green praised Pascal Siakam after the Toronto Raptors forward hung a team-high 32 points against the Golden State Warriors on Thursday.

Siakam shot a blistering 14-of-17 from the field, including making 11 straight field goals, as his fast-paced transition game aided him to easy buckets:

“Well, you know, I mean, really the only time I ever really played him was last year,” said Green. “I played him the second time we played this year, but I think I probably played 16 minutes or something like that. I was just coming back from injury.

“He’s become a guy. He put a lot of work in to get there and I respect that, but like I said, I got to take him out of the series and that’s on me.”

Siakam has gone from potential sixth man entering this season to a secondary scoring option, now that he has refined his 3-point shooting and put his ability to handle the ball to use in different ways other than scoring in transition.

The 25-year-old Cameroonian is one of the three finalists to win the Most Improved Player award, along with D'Angelo Russell of the Brooklyn Nets and Sacramento Kings point guard De'Aaron Fox:

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While it won't count in respect to the regular-season award, Siakam made his case for an All-Star bid in Thursday's Game 1, being a vital part of the Raptors' offensive barrage:

Draymond Green and the Warriors will have to lock onto where Pascal Siakam is on the floor at all times, as he has become just as lethal from distance as he is around the rim, making him yet another puzzle the defending champions must solve ahead of Game 2.