Tyrese Haliburton Shrank When Pacers Needed Him Most

One minute, Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton looks like the ultimate star in the league, and the next, his title of 'Overrated' appears to be valid. Prior to Game 4 against the Cleveland Cavaliers, the latter is the case. 

The Indiana Pacers suffered a brutal loss in Game 3 and their first loss of the series on Friday. 

It was a performance to forget, as the team started the contest flat and didn't have the right energy for a game in front of their home fans. It was a rather disappointing effort from the Pacers, especially from their star guard. 

Haliburton had a game to forget. In 30 minutes of action, he recorded a lowly four points on 2-of-8 shooting from the field, five assists, one steal and zero rebounds. He attempted only one three, which he missed. 

The two-time All-Star had a poor performance, and because of that, the Pacers now lead this series 2-1. While the Pacers are still up in the series and have a chance to go up 3-1 on Sunday, many are questioning whether Haliburton is the player to lean on in moments like this. 

Gregg Doyel of the Indianapolis Star believes Haliburton is more like the player we witnessed in Game 3 than in Games 1 and 2. 

"Did you wonder why?

"Now you know why — what happened in this game, and what happened after it. For the people who don’t see the best in Tyrese Haliburton, for the people who see his unquestioned greatness undercut by something egregious, this is what they see. This is what they say, and Friday night was Example A:

Tyrese Haliburton is a front-runner," wrote Doyel. 

Haliburton did not speak to the media after Game 3, which was his worst performance in the playoffs. It was a contest in which they could have put the Cavaliers to bed; instead, Cleveland is very much alive in the series, and Indiana will now need to head back to Cleveland for a Game 5.

Game 4 will tell us a lot about Haliburton and whether he is indeed an elite star in the league or just another average All-Star who comes and goes in certain games. 

When the former Cyclone is firing on all cylinders, the Pacers tend to follow suit. But when he's off his game, Indiana often struggles to find its rhythm and looks like a completely different team.

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