Tyrese Haliburton essentially told the haters to put some respect on his name after he put up five points – including the game-winning bucket — in the last 20 seconds of the Pacers’ series-clinching 119-118 win over the Bucks in overtime.
The Pacers’ star finished the game with 26 points, nine assists, five rebounds, three blocks and three steals in the Game 5 victory on Tuesday night, and made sure to emphasize the way he played in a curt post on social media.
Haliburton had been voted the league’s most overrated player in an anonymous player poll put together by The Athletic and published last week.
That didn’t sit well with Haliburton, and he clearly hadn’t let it go after the win.
“Overrate THAT,” Haliburton wrote on X after the game.
Bucks fans taunted the Indiana guard during Games 3 and 4 with chants of “overrated” when he had the ball.
But Haliburton had the last laugh and stuck it to Milwaukee fans on Tuesday night.
He scored the go-ahead layup with a little more than one second on the clock after he took the ball from the backcourt and eventually drove down the lane for the basket.
When the final buzzer sounded, an enthusiastic Haliburton leaped onto the scorer’s table in celebration.
The exhilaration was briefly interrupted after the win when Haliburton’s father got into a heated confrontation with Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo on the court after the win.
Haliburton told reporters after the game that he did not agree with what his dad had done.
“I had no idea it happened until I got to the back [of the arena] and was showed the video,” he said. “Me and my pops have talked about that and I don’t agree with what transpired there from him. I think basketball is basketball and let’s keep it on the court.
“He just got excited, saw his some make a game-winner on the court.”
