Sam observed the direction at which the knives are pointed at and roughly estimated the possible trajectories, there are very few blind spots and it hard to completely stay in a zone where there is no threat of these knives.
Sam, came back to his senses and when he saw the red-hot condition of the arms of the puppets, he aimed his hands and sprayed water on them.
The whole suddenly was full of steam. The young lady frowned. Even though the steam didn't hinder her spiritual sense much and Sam could be sensed easily, she felt distracted by the sudden addition of steam and it is a bit frustrating.
She tried to concentrate on the battle and what greeted her was the Sam is using the same tactic again and again. He is only trying to dodge and every time, he gets to hold the puppet, he is heating it and once he was forced to release by a flying knife or attacks from another puppet, he would spray the puppet with the water releasing the steam.