Tyrese Haliburton delivered another highlight, sinking a buzzer-beater three-point on Tuesday to lift the Indiana Pacers to a 2-0 lead over the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Second Round. The clutch shot sparked a lighthearted reaction from WWE executive Triple H on X/Twitter.
Haliburton scored 19 points and grabbed nine rebounds in Game 2, helping the Pacers rally from a 112–119 deficit against a Cavaliers team missing three key players with just a minute remaining in the final quarter.
With ten seconds left in regulation, the former Iowa State standout was at the free-throw line but missed his second attempt.
He secured the rebound, shook off Ty Jerome’s defense, and drained a 20-foot shot from beyond the arc to seal the dramatic win.
Triple H, real name Paul Levesque, shared the NBA’s clip highlighting Haliburton’s heroics, allowing Indiana to win 120-119 over Cleveland. He then captioned his post, “Game. Over. @TyHaliburton22”.
Game. Over. @TyHaliburton22 https://t.co/MxhlPlCWHF
— Triple H (@TripleH) May 7, 2025
Off the court, Tyrese Haliburton has also made guest appearances in WWE. During a SmackDown episode in June 2024, he and Logan Paul fought in a segment against Jalen Brunson and LA Knight.
.@jalenbrunson1 has @RealLAKnight‘s back 😤💪#SmackDown pic.twitter.com/GElH909pJe
— WWE (@WWE) June 29, 2024
With Haliburton’s occasional involvement in the wrestling world, it’s clear that WWE fans and executives like Triple H, the company’s Chief Content Officer, have extended their support to the Pacers’ star guard.
Tyrese Haliburton calls out Cavaliers fans for Game 2 chants
Tyrese Haliburton silenced the Cleveland Cavaliers’ fans with a game-winning shot that gave the Indiana Pacers a clear lead in their series.
During the post-game interview, Haliburton candidly responded to the constant chants by the homecourt’s fans calling him ‘overrated.’
The chant stemmed from an anonymous player poll published in April, where Haliburton was voted the NBA’s most overrated player, receiving 14.4% of the votes from a pool of 90 players.
And Cavaliers’ fans seemed to vividly remember this as they face the former Iowa State and the Pacers in the semifinals.
Tyrese Haliburton responded calmly to the criticism, stating that he’ll focus on what he can control and let his performance speak for itself.
“I mean, sure, yeah, that one was unexpected. I didn’t know we had beef, but yeah, I guess that, I mean, good for them, man,” Haliburton said.
“That came out of nowhere, but it’s just. I think now that label’s there, as it’s gonna be every time we play somebody, every time on the road, they’ll probably follow me until the next poll comes out.”
“And then we’ll see if I’m number one again. But for me, I just control what I can. And yeah, I mean, overrate that.”
Tyrese Haliburton on overrated chants: “That one was unexpected. I didn’t know we had beef. I think now that that label is there, it’s going to be that every time we play somebody on the road. It’ll probably follow me until the next poll comes out. Overrate that.” pic.twitter.com/p9lANoW3qw
— Michael Scotto (@MikeAScotto) May 7, 2025
Tyrese Haliburton and the Pacers will host the Cavaliers for Game 3 on Friday, aiming to deepen their 2-0 lead.
For more basketball content, click on Hardwood Heroics. Sabel Reyes can be reached through [email protected]. Other websites under the Sports Heroics umbrella are Gridiron Heroics and Wisconsin Heroics.
Sabel has been working as a field reporter for People’s Television Network (PTV), mainly about the Philippine Basketball Association since 2016 and has been elevated to Executive Producer for sports in 2022. Aside from being on top of the Philippine sports scene, she is also a running enthusiast. You can also follow her on X at @SabelReyes2 and Instagram at @msabelreyes.
