Rose's outburst came suddenly. By the time Budenholzer was slow to realize it and adjusted the defense to double-team Rose, several of Rose's passes had already turned into assists.
The current Rose was truly different from the Rose of before.
Although both versions of him played drive-and-kick basketball, he had previously focused on attacking, and most of his passes had been passive ones made after jumping and finding no shooting opportunity.
But now, he observed his teammates' positions before driving, and his passing choices came at exactly the right moments.
After going through so many twists and turns, he had finally evolved.
Moreover, he had been in a good rhythm during this stretch, leaving the Bucks with few answers for him.
Budenholzer paced back and forth on the sidelines.
Brogdon's absence and Tang Tian being off the court had originally been a perfect chance for the Bucks to close the score.
But he had never expected Rose to erupt.
And that eruption lasted through the entire Bench Connection Segment, from the end of the first quarter to the start of the second quarter.
As a result, the Pelicans' lead advantage not only failed to shrink during that stretch but actually increased. By the time both teams' starters returned, the gap had reached 18 points.
Then, after the Pelicans' starters came back and unleashed a barrage, the half ended with the gap stretching to 25 points.
The Bucks fans in the arena were filled with despair.
This was supposed to be a revenge game, yet they had ended up watching their home team get crushed again!
By the second half, the Bucks were clearly performing worse than they had in the first half.
The deficit was simply too large, and the players' mentality had fluctuated badly. Horford alone could no longer