'Overrated' Tyrese Haliburton starring again in NBA playoffs

Haliburton hit a last-second three-pointer to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers Tuesday, his second such game-winner of the playoffs so far. In two wins against the Cavs, Haliburton shot 16-of-26 with 17 assists and only one turnover.

The survey may have lit a fire under Haliburton, who has called himself "chronically online." He saw the poll before Indiana's win in Game 2 against the Milwaukee Bucks, following his worst-scoring game of the playoffs in a Game 1 win (10 points, 12 rebounds). In Game 2, Haliburton put up 21 points and 12 assists in a game where the Pacers never trailed. 

Granted, Haliburton received just 14.4 percent of the votes from 90 players, meaning that only 13 players said he was overrated. He's in good company in the playoffs, as second-place Rudy Gobert (10 percent) delivered a monster game of 27 points and 24 rebounds to eliminate the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 5 of their first-round series.

Fourth-place Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green (tied for fifth) just upset the second-seeded Houston Rockets in the first round. Both have delivered stellar performances this postseason for the Golden State Warriors, in particular in Tuesday night's win over the Minnesota Timberwolves with Steph Curry sidelined.

It's hard to say what caused players to think of Haliburton as overrated. It could be his ugly-but-effective jump shot. It could be that his ball-distributing, turnover-minimizing game isn't always flashy, or that he earned an Olympic gold medal last summer while largely sitting on the bench with an injury.

But if the Pacers, currently up 2-0, make a return trip to the Eastern Conference Finals, Haliburton will have the last word against his haters. Though he'd probably wait until the final seconds to deliver it.