The Knicks Hawks played twice, and the Knicks had already shown a losing trend after half-time, the Hawks led the Knicks by 13 points 57-44, and Yang Yang soared into three three-pointers in the second quarter to score 15 points and once again became Madison's silencer.
The Hawks' home star, Blowy Young, has played well in one and a half straight games, while the Knicks' home star has lost six consecutive quarters. In the Knicks' moment of crisis, it was Rose who stood out.
Starting point guard Payton played five minutes of disastrous performance, so Thibodeau had to play the second quarter with Rose, who scored eight points in the quarter and bit the point difference.
Rose came back in the second half to start and played all the way through the third quarter, so far Rose has played two or three consecutive quarters. Rose scored 10 points in the third quarter to completely reverse the situation, Randall also scored 11 points in the single quarter led by Rose, and the Knicks reversed the game in just one quarter.
By the end of the quarter, Rose had finally gained valuable time to rest, and the Knicks' momentum overwhelmed the Eagles. When Rose returned, with another key throw and a three-point assist to Bullock, the Knicks won the long-lost playoff home victory.
Madison Garden Plaza's 15,000 fans can finally continue to confidently shout "fu*k trae young", and today they also made a sign with the slogan "Trey Young is fast bald", which almost became a joke again, thanks to them and Rose.
Thibodeau also has to thank himself and Rose, otherwise two consecutive home games in the playoffs will be a disaster, just ask the Clippers where they are now.
The Knicks' strongest move has always been Rose and Randall to block and dismantle, so in the third quarter, when Rose found Randall after blocking and dismantling, when Randall broke into the inside line again and again to find Rose on the outside line, the Knicks' offense was completely alive.
The Hawks had their own problems today, with McMillan putting Trey Young, who is ten years younger than Rose, off when rose was behind double figures in the fourth quarter. If blowing Yang can play longer, the Eagle will not be so passive.
The 32-year-old Rose played 39 minutes today to record a team-high 26 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists, coincidentally Rose's highest playoff score was also for the Hawks, and ten years ago, in that MVP season, Rose scored 44 points against the Hawks in the semifinals.
After 1131 days, Rose won another playoff game, the last time was with the Timberwolves. Time has changed, the place has changed, the team has changed, what has not changed is that he still plays under Thibodeau, he is still that Rose.
Even if Thibodeau stays up all night and drinks more coffee, it's still his players who play. When Randle is slow to find form, when the outside shooter group is inaccurate, the only thing he can rely on is Rose.
So in the first game Rose 38 minutes, the second Rose 39 points, he was a substitute, but he played longer than any starter. Rose said in an interview after the game:
"There have been a lot of people who have questioned whether I can still play for more than 30 minutes, and the outside world is worried that I will be injured again, but only I know how much effort I have put in, I can play for two hours in training, I am happy for my persistence."
Just as Popovich to Duncan and Nash to D'Antoni, Rose has always been the greatest achievement of Thibodeau's coaching career. Thibodeau lifted Rose out of trouble, and Rose brought victory to Thibodeau.
Ten years later, Rose is still Thibodeau's MVP, and always will be.