Watch: KCP With Epic Putback Dunk vs Blazers

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope may not be making headlines with every LA game he plays, but he will definitely make a hot piece with this put-back dunk. Fans were long waiting for KCP to hit his dunk in the game vs Blazers.

KCP had two underwhelming seasons with the Lakers. Fans wanted more. He faced harsh criticism on every occasion. Everyone thought he was responsible for every mistake the team makes. Dwight Howard had to intervene and go back at Instagram trolls who said stuff about his teammate.

Caldwell-Pope shot just 5-18 from distance in the eight seeding games inside the bubble and went 0-9 and 0-5 from three in Game 1 of the series. Lakers head coach Frank Vogel had a message for his player.

“I told him after Game 1 that you started the season this way,” Vogel said. “All he did was go on to shoot 40% over the next four months by remaining confident.”

Lakers need another KCP dunk in the series vs Blazers

It was a good reminder and Caldwell-Pope shot a team-high 41.2% from the night that Howard defended him until the season was suspended due to COVID-19. He scored 16 points in Game two and made four of the six tries he attempted (66.7%) to help his team smash Portland 111-88. The Lakers evened up the first round at 1-1.

After the win, KCP admitted that he was “just trying to forget Game 1.” Did this selective amnesia work? Of course not, he remembers the bad plays. Caldwell-Pope wanted to do better in his second postseason game.

“I know I shot the ball terribly. I won’t even say bad,” Caldwell-Pope told reporters after the game. “I’m a shooter, and shooters shoot. I came out with the mindset (that) I’m going to knock down shots.”

His teammates noticed the great effort. LeBron was among the first to praise his great work. “From the beginning of the game, it was great to see KCP have no conscience about his shot, to get it going from the outside,” he said.

In the process, KCP helped the team go from historically bad from three in Game 1 to setting a team playoff record from deep.