During the break after the first quarter, Van Gundy and Mark Jackson began to comment on both teams' performance in the first quarter.
"Buddy, do you still stick to your previous opinion? The Thunder have compensated for their roster deficiencies through their perimeter defense."
Mark Jackson asked with a smile.
"Of course, Erik's decision was correct, but the Heat's outside shooting in the first quarter wasn't good, and most importantly, they couldn't stop the Thunder's offense."
"The tallest of the Heat's perimeter players is Michael Beasley. Beasley is good offensively, but his defense is problematic. Every time Durant comes off a screen, his defense can't keep up."
"Besides Wade doing a good job of limiting Kayce, everyone else's defense is problematic. The Heat can't rely on just one person to contribute on both ends of the court; other players need to step up."
Van Gundy was also speaking frankly. He had thought the Heat could limit the Thunder's offense, but they were blown out from the start.
"I agree with you. The second quarter is about to begin. Let's look forward to the exciting performance from both sides!"
Coach Spo was actually a bit worried. If it weren't for the need for rotations, he would genuinely want the starters to play the full 48 minutes, because the Heat's bench capabilities are indeed not very good right now.
"Pay attention to defense, protect the paint, and retreat quickly!" Coach Spo gave his final instructions.
"The Heat are starting Carlos Arroyo and Daequan Cook in the backcourt for the second quarter, with Michael Beasley and Haslem at forward, and Joel Anthony at center. This lineup looks pretty good."
Mark Jackson began to introduce the Heat's bench lineup.
"Erik has put all his forwards on the court. It seems he's trying to limit Kayce's performance. We can first see how the Thunder will attack; they only have one player to distribute the ball in their second unit."
Van Gundy was still relatively optimistic about the Heat's second unit; they wouldn't be at a disadvantage physically.
After the Thunder took the lead, the second quarter naturally saw regular rotations. Kayce and Thabo Sefolosha partnered in the backcourt, with Etan Thomas, Ibaka, and Nick Collison at forward.
Because the Heat were tightly guarding the Thunder's hand-off passes in this game, always rushing to steal the ball very quickly, it was difficult to create good opportunities.
So, for the first offensive possession of the second quarter, Kayce crossed half-court and immediately passed the ball to Thabo Sefolosha, while simultaneously beginning to post up in the low block.
After receiving the pass from Thabo Sefolosha, Ibaka came to the top of the arc, Thabo Sefolosha moved to the baseline, and Collison and Etan Thomas began to screen for each other, looking for cutting opportunities.
This tactic was the Thunder's version of the triangle offense, with Kayce, the poor man's Jordan, as the pivot, and everyone else moving according to the situation. In short, it relied on Kayce's individual ability to draw a double team.
The triangle offense isn't too complicated, but the Thunder's current configuration couldn't really execute it, so this tactic was also a poor man's version.
Kayce received the ball with his back to the basket, facing Haslem's defense. He turned around and took a jab step, noticing Haslem subtly shifting back a bit, then pulled up for a jump shot.
"Swish!" The two-point shot went in cleanly.
"Very interesting offense, utilizing Kayce's post-up and ball-handling ability. It feels a bit like the Lakers' triangle offense!"
Van Gundy was very interested in the Thunder's current style of play.
Haslem was a bit frustrated. His lateral quickness was a bit slow, and he was afraid Kayce would drive straight to the basket, so he wanted to use his height and wingspan to limit Kayce.
But he made a mistake: Kayce's physical stats were accurate, his height was barefoot, while the 203cm Haslem had exaggerated his height a little bit. Therefore, besides his weight advantage, he was completely outmatched by Kayce.
The Heat's offense now had to rely on Beasley. He came off a screen to receive the ball, faced Etan Thomas's defense, dribbled with a crossover, pulled back, and shot gracefully.
"Swish!" The mid-range shot went in.
With similar height, Beasley had better athletic ability, and Etan Thomas indeed found it difficult to limit him.
The Thunder's offense continued with the same tactic as the previous possession. Kayce again received the ball with his back to the basket. This time, Haslem played him a bit tighter, fearing Kayce would pull up again.
Kayce backed down twice, then suddenly executed a quick spin, swiftly putting the ball down with his left hand, getting past Haslem's defense, and accelerating along the baseline for a drive.
Joel Anthony's defensive reaction was half a beat slow, and he could only watch Kayce take off for a reverse dunk with his left hand!
"Slam!" The drive and dunk were successful.
"Oh!!! Boo!!"
Some of the American Airlines Center crowd gasped in surprise, while others booed.
"Wow, this kind of post-up technique isn't very common now. Kayce might have studied videos of Jordan and Kobe. I have to commend him; that post-up drive and dunk was spectacular."
Kayce's dunk got Mark Jackson excited; he really liked this old-school technique.
Haslem signaled that the play was his fault. He hadn't expected Kayce to make such a move. Is this a rookie? He was already starting to doubt reality.
Russell on the bench was already wildly waving his towel. He loved watching Kayce dunk. Durant next to him was pensive, seemingly wondering if he should also practice post-up moves.
The Thunder's morale was high, and their defense was extra effortful. Ibaka's excellent help defense made it very difficult for the Heat to successfully penetrate the paint. In the end, they reluctantly had to give the ball to Beasley.
The latter received the ball, drove instantly, and went straight for the rim. Collison in the paint jumped up to fiercely contest.
"Bang!" It was a hard miss.
Ibaka secured the rebound and made an outlet pass to Kayce, who immediately pushed the fast break. The Heat desperately rushed back on defense, but their defensive assignments weren't properly communicated.
Kayce quickly sprinted past half-court, saw Daequan Cook guarding him, then suddenly paused outside the three-point line, held the ball with his left hand, raised his center of gravity, quickly changed direction in front of his body, and drove with his right hand, accelerating straight to the paint.
The sudden stop and go in transition left Daequan Cook looking like a statue.
Kayce's driving speed was incredibly fast. Joel Anthony, who had just set up in the paint, only managed to jump slightly when Kayce was already taking off.
He jumped off two feet for a one-handed tomahawk dunk!
"Slam!" The immense impact directly knocked Joel Anthony down.
"Oh!!! Ah!!"
The live audience also gasped in surprise. This dunk was a bit ferocious; Kayce had even knocked a player down.
"My God! A dunk in transition! I hope Joel Anthony is okay. Kayce's dunk was too brutal!"
Mark Jackson also exclaimed when he saw the situation on the court.
Kayce, after landing, didn't celebrate. He quickly went over to check on Joel Anthony. Haslem immediately came over, pushed Kayce aside, and instantly said:
"Don't go too far, kid! This is Miami!"
"Hey, Bro, I didn't mean any harm, I just wanted to check on Anthony!" Kayce explained.
The referee saw the situation was getting out of hand and quickly separated the two. At the same time, Coach Spo called a timeout.
Joel Anthony got up at this point. Kayce quickly went forward to check on him. Fortunately, the other party was fine, and Kayce breathed a sigh of relief:
"Dunking is indeed a dangerous move. I'll have to be more careful in the future."
His teammates were overjoyed, leading by 12 points. Victory in this game was within reach, 11 consecutive wins, undefeated to start the season!
Coming out of the timeout, Coach Spo immediately put the starting lineup back in, while taking out Beasley and keeping Haslem on the court.
Heat offense, Wade drove straight to the paint after a pick-and-roll, facing Ibaka's help defense and block, he dodged in mid-air and made a layup.
Kayce was a bit helpless. He couldn't stop Wade's accelerating drive even by going under the screen. The opponent kept his center of gravity too low, flying close to the ground, and directly got past his defense after accelerating.
On the Thunder's offensive possession, Wade also got fired up and directly took the lead in guarding Kayce. This oppressive defense forced Kayce to carefully protect the ball.
Ibaka saw the situation and quickly came up to set a screen. After the screen, Kayce drove with his right hand, accelerating. Wade gave him intense physical contact on his side, preventing him from shooting.
Spotting Ibaka unguarded at the free-throw line, Kayce made a behind-the-back bounce pass to Ibaka, who received the ball without hesitation and shot.
"Swish!" The mid-range shot went in.
Seeing this, Wade came up to Kayce and said coldly:
"I'll be guarding you all game, kid. Play well!"
Without waiting for Kayce's reaction, he immediately went to the baseline to receive the ball. Kayce shook his head helplessly,
"I'm still a rookie..."
The big shot had laid down the challenge, and Kayce couldn't back down. If he couldn't keep up with speed, he'd use physicality, and throw in some small moves, after all, this body wasn't for nothing.
The result was Wade continuously going to the free-throw line. Indeed, he couldn't be stopped.
In those two-plus minutes, Kayce was defended so hard that he found it difficult to shoot, and the offense started to stagnate, with the lead shrinking. Coach Brooks quickly called a timeout; it was time to put the starters back in.
With 5 minutes and 28 seconds left in the second quarter, both teams put their starting lineups back in. Kayce also didn't rest, continuing to play, determined to enter the second half with a lead.
With Russell and Durant, Kayce didn't have to handle the ball as frequently, but he noticed Wade was still guarding him.
"Buddy, you should occasionally guard Russell. Mario Chalmers needs your help!"
Kayce, while chilling in the corner, couldn't help but say to Wade in front of him.
"I always do what I say. You can also try to guard me. Little tricks won't work on me!"
Wade said to Kayce while keeping an eye on the court.
"..."
Basketball is a team sport. After Kayce transformed into a ruthless screening machine and an outside shooter, the Thunder slowly began to extend their lead again. Although their play wasn't fluid, winning points was all that mattered!
By the end of the second quarter, the Thunder led the Heat 56-42, a 14-point advantage.
During halftime, Van Gundy and Mark Jackson began to comment on both teams' first-half performance.
"What I want to say is that Russell and Kevin destroyed the Heat's defense. When Kayce and Jeff Green were on the court, the Thunder's offensive spacing was excellent, and the Heat couldn't limit them at all."
Mark Jackson was happy to see the Thunder perform well.
"The Heat need a second Wade to step up. Their perimeter defense is too poor. Wade can't guard three people at once, and Jermaine O'Neal also failed to punish the Thunder's single coverage in the paint!"
"If the Heat don't make changes in the second half, then it will be very difficult for them to catch up in this game."
Van Gundy again criticized the defense of the other Heat players, holding nothing back.
Mark Jackson quickly tried to smooth things over; those words were a bit offensive.
"Alright, I believe the Heat will bounce back in the second half. Don't underestimate the influence of a superstar. Let's continue to talk about Wade's performance!"
Facts proved that a superstar, paired with a few defensive liabilities, indeed found it difficult to win, especially with the Flash's shooting not going well tonight.
Five minutes into the third quarter, the lead had already reached 20 points. The Heat were clanking shots, and the game was effectively over.
Coach Spo saw the situation and called off his troops, substituting Wade and Jermaine O'Neal, declaring the game had entered garbage time early.
The Thunder also subbed out their starters. Kayce had another 1-for-4 shooting performance in the third quarter, finishing with 12 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists, and 1 turnover when he came off the court.
Sitting on the bench, Kayce felt too embarrassed to go back in and pad his stats, only thinking in frustration:
"When I get all my badges to purple, I'm definitely going to blow out Wade. A superstar hitting hard on a rookie, that's just outrageous!"