Shaq confronts ‘overrated’ Tyrese Haliburton allegation after Pacers’ Game 2 win
Players labeled him overrated in anonymous poll. Fans called him overrated during a playoff game, exactly a week after he took over at the end of the fourth quarter and overtime to eliminate the Milwaukee Bucks. It is becoming increasingly harder to stand behind that claim, though. Tyrese Haliburton drained a beautiful step-back 3-pointer to lift the Indiana Pacers to a 120-119 win versus the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals.
His legend is growing, and Shaquille O’Neal is taking notice. The four-time NBA champion and three-time Finals MVP respects big-time performers, for he understands how difficult it is to succeed under overwhelming pressure. He is throwing his support firmly behind the two-time All-Star point guard.
“First of all, Tyrese Haliburton is not an overrated player,” O’Neal said on TNT’s “Inside the NBA,” via ClutchPoints. “He’s a great player and plays the game the right way. And all the kids out there, the ones who can’t jump high or don’t have the Steph Curry form, watch him instill all that he does.”
Haliburton seems to play his best when people doubt him. His production soared after Tim Hardaway Sr. said he would want to go after him on the court if he was playing today. Since several of his peers voted him as the most overrated talent in the league, the 2024 All-NBA Third-Team selection has now vaulted Indiana to two crucial playoff victories. The man thrives on skepticism, which works perfectly for the determined Pacers.
The Cavs were missing offensively potent guard Darius Garland, Defensive Player of the Year Evan Mobley and impressive two-way wing De’Andre Hunter for Game 2, but they still outplayed their opponent for much of the contest. Indy only needs a crack, however. Down by as many as 20 points and trailing 119-112 with 47.2 seconds left on the clock, Rick Carlisle’s squad simply refused defeat. And the Cavaliers obliged.
The Pacers came back from the dead
Aaron Nesmith and Pascal Siakam help cut the deficit to one possession and Tyrese Haliburton finished off the comeback in grand fashion. However, before he exhilarated fans with his clutch play, the 25-year-old made a potentially costly mistake– he missed a free throw. But the Pacers are hard to keep down. Myles Turner tipped the ball and Halliburton recovered it. The rest is history, or at least it will be if Indiana can build on its 2-0 series lead and vanquish the Cavs.
The polarizing athlete’s Game 2 effort is not confined to his epic shot, though. He recorded 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting with nine rebounds, four assists and one block. People will look around and justly hand out praise to leading scorers Turner and Nesmith, who each dropped 23 points. They will shout out the 13 assists Andrew Nembhard dished out. And they will continue to highlight the impact Bennedict Mathurin provides off the bench. Of course, there is also Siakam, the man who was the team’s top player for most of the 2024-25 campaign.
One cannot dispute the Pacers’ depth and girt. Haliburton is the motor that drives them forward, however. Shaq recognizes it, and many others will have no choice but to as well.
Alex House is a sports journalist who covers the NFL, NBA, and MLB for ClutchPoints, providing a unique writing voice due to his in-depth knowledge of New York sports. Alex resides in Connecticut after receiving his journalism degree from the University of Rhode Island.
News
We pulled a massive, hair-covered body from the Pacific, and the DNA results just shattered everything we knew about Bigfoot
We pulled a massive, hair-covered body from the Pacific, and the DNA results just shattered everything we knew about Bigfoot There is a terrifying weight to the silence of the open ocean, a place where the abyss hides things that…
I was tied to an oak, left to die—then the “monster” stepped out of the shadows with a sharp flint stone
I was tied to an oak, left to die—then the “monster” stepped out of the shadows with a sharp flint stone In the deep, ancient veins of the Gifford Pinchot National Forest, there is a specialized kind of silence—a…
For 35 years, a logger shared his home with a legend—until a low-flying thermal drone revealed the secret
For 35 years, a logger shared his home with a legend—until a low-flying thermal drone revealed the secret In the deep, ancient veins of the northern Idaho panhandle, the silence of the forest is a living thing. For Gary Thompson,…
The Impossible Pursuit: I thought I could outrun it, but you haven’t felt true terror until you hear a 400-pound predator
The Impossible Pursuit: I thought I could outrun it, but you haven’t felt true terror until you hear a 400-pound predator There is a specialized kind of terror that exists only when you realize your role in the forest has…
The Impossible Survival: His camera recorded what everyone thought were his last seconds—then a miracle occurred
The Impossible Survival: His camera recorded what everyone thought were his last seconds—then a miracle occurred There is a terrifying intimacy in the silence of a desert canyon, a place where the ancient stone doesn’t just watch you—it waits. For…
The Forbidden Peak: She stepped into Yosemite’s high country and vanished into years of silence
The Forbidden Peak: She stepped into Yosemite’s high country and vanished into years of silence Yosemite is a place where beauty borders on the divine. Granite monoliths scrape the sky, and waterfalls tumble in sheets of white thunder. But beneath…
End of content
No more pages to load
