James Harden's mouth twitched. He thought they had agreed to go easy, but Kayce shot on him right away?
The commentators on site didn't care about that; they immediately shouted, "A beautiful three-pointer! It seems James Harden should be careful; he gave him too much space on that shot!"
Kayce slowly retreated on defense, giving Byron a thumbs-up to signal that the pick-and-roll was executed perfectly.
When the Sacramento Kings attacked, James Harden slowly dribbled past half-court and also executed a pick-and-roll. Omri Casspi, a Sacramento Kings rookie, rolled after the screen, and James Harden delivered a direct bounce pass.
The Thunder's defender was a bit short, and Omri Casspi scored directly over him.
This is the Summer League; the defense is just so-so. Everyone is mainly playing for contracts, so focusing on offense is more worthwhile.
The live commentator appropriately praised James Harden: "An excellent pass, a beautiful finish. It seems both sides are in great form today."
Kayce dribbled past half-court again. This time, he didn't call for a pick-and-roll. Facing James Harden's defense, he executed a front-cross crossover, accelerated with his left-hand dribble, and broke through. Just as the Sacramento Kings' interior defense was about to collapse, he threw a high lob pass, and Byron soared into the air.
"Slam!" A two-handed dunk, a very beautiful alley-oop.
"Wow!" The audience also started to get noisy; after all, everyone loves to watch dunks.
When the Sacramento Kings attacked, James Harden, facing Kayce's defense, immediately called for a pick-and-roll. Kayce didn't fight over the screen; he simply went under, allowing James Harden to shoot, but James Harden clanked it off the front rim.
"Clank!" Off the front rim. After all, he was still feeling weak; the defensive effects of the big-bottomed girl from last night were still lingering.
Kayce grabbed the long rebound and immediately pushed a fast break. The Thunder's role player teammates charged forward excitedly. Kayce wasn't greedy for a shot. Facing the retreating Sacramento Kings defender, he faked a shot and made a true pass, with a teammate arriving just in time from behind.
"Slam!" Another alley-oop dunk.
Kayce racked up 2 assists at the start. The intensity of a Summer League game was a bit too simple for him now, as his array of achievement badges weren't for show.
The commentator's voice came through again at the right moment: "Another beautiful alley-oop! It seems everyone bought the right tickets today!"
James Harden was now fully awake. He couldn't play too poorly, or the coach wouldn't be happy with him. He sped up crossing half-court, then immediately passed the ball, and the Sacramento Kings started to run simple plays.
Unfortunately, the Thunder's role player teammates were all fired up, and their defensive rotations sped up. In the end, Omri Casspi clanked another mid-range shot.
Byron secured the defensive rebound, passed it to Kayce, and the fast break was initiated again.
The Sacramento Kings no longer had James Harden guard Kayce, as he was having an off day. The wing role player directly applied pressure defense, trying to force a direct turnover from Kayce.
Unfortunately, facing such tight defense, Kayce executed a quick half-turn fake, then rapidly lowered his center of gravity, dribbled with his right hand, and accelerated past the defender, driving into the Sacramento Kings' paint. Facing the help defense, he immediately dished the ball to the corner.
"Swish!" Another open three-pointer. The Thunder's role player teammates were very excited.
The Assistant Coach noticed Kayce's dribbling; there were no flashy moves, and the rhythm was excellent. He was good at observing the defender's positioning, had wide vision, and his passes were accurate.
"Brooks was indeed right; Kayce is truly suited to play point guard, a natural mismatch advantage." The Assistant Coach felt that the Thunder's performance would see a leap this season.
James Harden saw the lead widening. After a pick-and-roll on offense, he played small-on-big. Facing the big man's defense, after a series of between-the-legs dribbles, he suddenly took a quick step-back three-pointer.
"Swish!" He successfully made his first personal shot.
"Hey, Bro, good imitation, but you need to improve the fluidity of your moves, or the referee will definitely call a foul on you, haha!" Kayce said, laughing, to James Harden as he retreated on defense.
"My moves are definitely fine! You've been exploiting loopholes since high school; don't think I don't know!" James Harden retorted, annoyed.
Well, that was a fact. Kayce would test the referees' officiating standards during games, and if there was an advantage to be gained, he wouldn't miss an opportunity for easy points. Many of James Harden's current playing styles were influenced by him.
Kayce dribbled past half-court and immediately passed the ball, going to the corner to rest. After all, his current teammates needed to perform more than he did. Appropriately giving up ball-handling duties helped with internal cohesion, as basketball also involved social dynamics.
Without Kayce controlling the tempo, both sides started to play freely. The pace of offense and defense was incredibly fast. Byron, the big man, spent several possessions just running back and forth. The Sacramento Kings also seized the opportunity to tie the score.
The score was currently 20 to 20.
With 3 minutes left in the first quarter, the Thunder called a timeout. After playing a bit chaotically, they needed to cool down the over-excited players.
"Kayce, slow down the pace. Fast breaks can be pushed quickly, but half-court offense needs patience." The Assistant Coach looked at the idling Kayce and spoke directly.
"No problem, Coach, leave it to me." Kayce knew the Coach didn't want him to slack off anymore.
After the timeout, the Thunder subbed out Byron and brought in a role-player center. This guy had good physical attributes but questionable basketball IQ, perfectly suited for chaotic tactics.
The live commentator, seeing both teams make substitutions, immediately said, "It seems both sides are entering the rotation phase, but Kayce appears to be playing the entire first quarter."
Kayce still immediately passed the ball after dribbling past half-court, signaling his interior teammate to set a screen for him. After an off-ball screen, Kayce popped out to receive the ball, now facing Sacramento Kings rookie Omri Casspi.
After a triple threat, he quickly put the ball down, made a simple cross-step, and swiftly pulled the ball back with his left hand. Omri Casspi stumbled, but Kayce immediately followed with a quick right-hand pivot, turning him into a statue.
This somewhat flashy dribble move drew gasps from the live audience.
"Wow!!!"
Kayce, having already broken through the defense, again delivered a high lob pass to the help defender in the paint, and the role player who came off the bench slammed the ball into the hoop.
"Ah!!"
The audience began to cheer for the spectacular score, and the dark-skinned role player excitedly pounded his chest.
When the Sacramento Kings attacked, a careless pass was directly stolen by Kayce. He accelerated towards the other half of the court and delivered a one-handed tomahawk dunk.
"Slam!"
The rim rattled, and the female fans in the front row screamed wildly.
The commentator also excitedly shouted, "A fantastic dunk! I think Kayce can increase his offense a bit; the live audience loves him!"
In the final three minutes of the first quarter, the Thunder, led by Kayce, quickly extended their lead.
32 to 24, an 8-point lead. Kayce was 4 for 4, with two three-pointers, one dunk, one mid-range shot, and also grabbed 3 rebounds, while dishing out 6 assists to his teammates.
During the break, Kayce couldn't help but sigh inwardly,
"Summer League, is this all there is? It's not even as intense as the team scrimmages i do every day in the Dream Space."