Triple-Double at Halftime

By the end of the first quarter, the Heat had practically been destroyed.

A 14-point deficit was not impossible to overcome.

But with Spoelstra already out of ideas, even a two-point deficit would have been difficult for him to erase.

Leave the Grizzlies open to shoot? Their 60% shooting percentage in the first quarter was the consequence!

Refuse to collapse the defense and let Link play one-on-one? Luol Deng would be beaten into depression.

With the Heat's current personnel, they could not make any effective adjustments.

Spoelstra still decided to gamble on the Grizzlies' shooting touch. He believed their absurdly high first-quarter percentage had simply been the result of a hot hand.

Right at the start of the second quarter, Luol Deng assisted McRoberts on a thunderous dunk. It looked like the Heat were sounding the horn for a comeback.

But in the end, people realized that what they had thought was the beginning had already been the end.

In the second quarter, the Grizzlies remained steady from mid-range and beyond the arc.

Even Vince Carter, coming off the bench, ruthlessly punished the Heat's defense with his shooting.

The Grizzlies' shooting percentage stayed sky-high, consistently above 60%.

Finally, five minutes into the second quarter, when the Grizzlies stretched the lead to 20 points, Spoelstra yielded.

"Go back to man-to-man! We can't give them any more open shots!"

The Filipino-American coach knew that doing so was practically suicide. Unless the Heat could produce an offense capable of matching Link's, a 20-point deficit would be nearly impossible to overcome.

On the other side, Dave Joerger had already predicted Spoelstra's adjustment. He looked at Link, but before he could say anything, Link smiled. "Don't worry. Our losing streak isn't getting any longer."

Link cracked his knuckles and stepped back onto the court. From