When Tyrese Haliburton stepped to the free throw line in the second quarter of Game 2 of the Indiana Pacers‘ second-round playoff series against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday, fans at Rocket Arena showered him with “overrated” chants, referring to the guard recently being voted the most overrated player in the league by his peers in a poll by The Athletic.
Cavs star Donovan Mitchell, who scored a game-high 48 points in Game 2, didn’t care for the taunting and motioned for the crowd to cease chanting.
By the end of the game, though, it was clear that the Olympic gold medalist Haliburton was unfazed by the noise and belongs among the NBA elite.
Down by three points with 27 seconds left, Indiana intercepted Cleveland’s inbound pass. Haliburton attacked the rim and was fouled, sending him to the free-throw line.
He made the first, missed the second, but corralled the offensive rebound. The Pacers guard proceeded to splash a go-ahead, crowd-silencing step-back three-pointer with 1.1 seconds left. Cleveland’s desperate half-court prayer wasn’t answered, capping the Pacers’ comeback victory.
