MPJ (Michael Porter Jr.) and KCP (Kentavious Caldwell-Pope).
The box score offers clues as to why these two were targeted. Porter, whose five-year contract is worth approximately $180 million, scored a grand total of five points on three-for-fourteen shooting and earned a plus-minus (a stat that reveals whether a team scored more or fewer points when specific ballers are on the court) came in at an embarrassing -15. For his part, Caldwell-Pope, who earned a championship ring with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2020, managed only six points en route to a plus-minus of -14.
But there was more to the story than that. Porter specializes in three-pointers but kept missing (and missing, and missing) from beyond the arc even when he was as open as DJ Khaled's mouth while in maximum hype mode. Moreover, his improvement on the defensive end seemed to evaporate as the flop sweat collected on his forehead over the course of the contest.
Caldwell-Pope, meanwhile, was magically transformed from a defender par excellence to a liability thanks to several plays in which his aggressiveness trumped his court sense — most damagingly via inexcusable fouls on three-point shooters during crunch time that helped dig the Nuggets into a scoring hole too deep to escape.
They certainly tried. When superstar center Nikola Jokic realized that his cohorts were having off-nights, he shrugged off his reluctance and became a scorer — a strategy that seldom works (the Nuggets often lose when he notches forty-plus points) but at least kept Denver in contact with Miami, which shot nearly 50 percent from three after stinking up Ball Arena in game one. Indeed, Jamal Murray, who also struggled before waking from his slumber down the stretch, nearly sent the game into overtime with one last fling that, unfortunately, rattled out.
That Denver had a chance at victory despite subpar performances by three of five starters (the fourth, Aaron Gordon, was merely average) offers hope to Nuggets Nation, and some of that optimism is reflected in the Twitter reactions that followed the final buzzer. But such takes didn't prevent MPJ and KCP from being turned into alphabet soup online.
See what we mean by counting down our picks for the twenty most memorable tweets:
Number 20:
KCP and mpj trash
— rafael (@nutiz1234) June 5, 2023
Number 19:
MPJ might cost the Nuggets a finals lol
— Baseball Guru (98-58-5) (@denverpIs) June 5, 2023
Number 18:
Nuggets should've taken game 2, shame on MPJ
— WHEELCHAIR JESUS (@wheeliemessiah) June 5, 2023
Number 17:
MPJ HAS to be better for the nuggets if they want to be champs. He needs to average 15-18 points.. especially if AG is giving the nuggets 10+ points a game
— StL (@stlewis0) June 5, 2023
Number 16:
So mad at the Nuggets I can't sleep. Fuck MPJ.
— Doc Holliday (@JamarToombs) June 5, 2023
Number 15:
MPJ and KCP truly cost the nuggets this game as dogshit and one sided as the reffing was (John Goble is from Miami btw and he’s somehow allowed to ref a fucking finals game with the heat) bricked too many open 3s to count and were trash defensively they should be embarrassed rn
— DwayneCamacho (@DwayneCamacho88) June 5, 2023
Number 14:
The Nuggets needed to make an in game adjustment and just didn’t. CB needed more minutes. He gave the team energy and was the best defender on the court. MPJ deservedly got less minutes but there’s no excuse for KCP playing 36. He was useless. Needed to be taken out for CB.
— Jacob Hughes (@littlegoofyj) June 5, 2023
Number 13:
Either KCP and/or MPJ have to shoot not at the absolute floor of their shooting ability or the Nuggets need to play Bruce Brown more.
— JaggedCole (@JaggedCole) June 5, 2023
Number 12:
Im just praying that the fact that the last 3 teams who lost game 2 of the NBA finals at home continues with the nuggets lol. In seriousness though, theres no way in hell all of Jamal, KCP, and MPJ play that badly again in the same game
— moose 🫎 (@MooseRantanen) June 5, 2023
Number 11:
Nuggets lose this series, it will be bc of MPJ
— instigator-in-chief (@__fest) June 5, 2023
Number 10:
So can somebody tell Malone to coach up on the offensive rebounds? Also where was Jokers assists tonight? And why did they keep letting MPJ shoot 3’s, also MPJ’s defense was trash. We have to do better NUGGETS. we are only 3 games away from a well and overdue deserved Ship!
— Paul J Del Real (@PaulJDelReal1) June 5, 2023
Number 9:
MPJ isn’t quite ready yet for a series of this level imo…if he’s not hitting 3s I think the Nuggets are forced to go small with Bruce brown. MPJs immaturity and limitations are being exposed
— Sebastian Cotton (@Bonvivant1979) June 5, 2023
Number 8:
MPJ. He won’t say it, but MPJ. You can tell just from his minutes. KCP was also horrendous late with the fouls, but MPJ shows up tonight and the Nuggets win easy. Dude was out of it or something.
— Poof Diddy (@nvrpay4premium) June 5, 2023
Number 7:
No. His teammates just missed shots.
— Nuggets and politics (@chmorley) June 5, 2023
Can’t get assists when Murray is 7/15, Porter is 2/8 (think he’s hurt) & KCP is 1/4.
Spo even said that analysis was casual.
Number 6:
He will never win anything with these inconsistent bums, KCP, Murray and Porter
— sonja (@eeclatant) June 5, 2023
Number 5:
He is so inconsistent it’s funny atp. He has a few good games and starts thinking he’s MJ. Porter even worse. Kcp too
— sonja (@eeclatant) June 5, 2023
Number 4:
Miami didn't really do anything different Nuggets just couldn't hit shots and KCP was throwing the game getting multiple shooting fouls
— EasyMoney (@EasyBucket35) June 5, 2023
Number 3:
He was legit awful and it could be argued KCP was the primary reason the Nuggets lost.
— One Rock (@OneRockFF) June 5, 2023
Number 2:
Heat shot 49% from 3, terrible defense by the Nuggets. Plus, KCP fouled a 3-pt shooter two times.
— Titch Muh (@TitchMuh) June 5, 2023
Number 1:
True we only lost by 3 we will bounce back and MPJ will make those shots he usually makes and KCP will be better
— Sarachiman (@sarachiman55) June 5, 2023
