Shakespeare had some bangers in his time, including this gem:

If you stab us, won't we bleed? When you tickle us, don't we laugh? If you poison us, won't we die? And if you do us wrong, shouldn't we take revenge?

The Portland Trail Blazers – stung, tickled, poisoned and wronged – were left looking for a little revenge when they blew a 12-point lead late in the third Friday and lost to the New Orleans Pelicans 103-105. Most of that lead was squandered early in the fourth period, turning a nine-point Blazers lead into a two-point deficit in less than 200 seconds. Still, there were reasons for Blazers fans to have hope both before and after.

Portland Trail Blazers (0-2) vs. New Orleans Pelicans (2-0) – Sun. Oct. 27 – 3 p.m. Pacific

How to watch via antenna or cable: Check out your options on the Rip City Television Network

How to watch via streaming: BlazerVision in Oregon and Washington; League Pass everywhere else

Trail Blazers injuries: Shaedon Sharpe, Matisse Thybulle, Robert Williams III (out)

Injuries caused by pelicans: Trey Murphy III, Dejounte Murray (out)

Some of those good things? Portland's center rotation played to its strengths, and although rookie Donovan Clingan only played 14 minutes (filling in for all but one minute left by Deandre Atyon), he looked mobile and competent. In a late sequence, Clingan rotated to three to contest a long jumper, then immediately rotated back downfield to completely smother Zion Williamson.

We also wouldn't mind Jerami Grant playing more like he did on Friday and less like he did in the season opener in Portland. While he and Anfernee Simons combined for more than half (43) of Portland's shot attempts (78) – which doesn't exactly leave room for developing players – Grant needs to play this way to show other teams around the league that he's one Trade is worth for, so open these development logs.

Scoot Henderson also continues to show promising signs: He's finding advantages against New Orleans' defense and his finishing looks much better compared to his dismal stats on the sidelines early in his rookie season.

For New Orleans, they will look to build on the outstanding performance of Jordan Hawkins, who almost single-handedly closed the gap early in the fourth quarter; The Blazers will try to stop it (more on that in the reader questions). If only Coach Billups had listened to Portland-to-New Orleans legend Evan McCarthy, who told me in a direct message that Hawkins would fill the void left by Dejounte Murray… and boy, would he ever have.

Luckily for the Blazers, they'll get a chance to avoid the stings, tickles, poisons and wrongs and instead seek revenge against New Orleans on Sunday.

What you should pay attention to

More Clingan. I want Cling Kong to get a second chance to lock Zion into a lanky 7'2″ cage of purely defensive constraints. If that means playing Ayton a little less, then so be it.

Reader questions about Blazer's Edge

The power of Blazer's Edge doesn't come from us…but from YOU! Keep your eyes open for posts like this to add your questions and (maybe) have them answered right here in these previews!

From Kodiak62:

A pelican's beak can hold up to three gallons of water. How many NBA basketballs would that be?

…I'm so glad I saw this critical question. The volume of a basketball is approximately 434 cubic inches. Assuming that a gallon is 231 cubic inches, that means a basketball is about 1.87 gallons… which means the Eclectus Pelican can hold about 1.6 basketballs of water in its beak.

The world will thank us later for this important information.

From sbflat:

I'm a big fan and have been for 47 years, and my ringtone is the Blazer trumpets from the 90s. When I tried to watch the game against the Warriors on the Sinclair feed. I missed the first 9 or so points due to buffering. I had decided to look through the blurring of standard definition, but it was so bad that I just turned it off. I've finally come to the conclusion, and I change my mind every minute, to just walk away. Please tell me there is a plan that won't completely blow up the fanbase???

Firstly, it's a shame you couldn't find a reliable way to watch the game. Second, there is a lot that could be improved in the Blazers' new broadcast agreement. Third (and BUT): There are more ways to watch the games than there have been in a long time, and even the fact that you had a legal alternative to your first choice is proof of that. Is it perfect? No. Also, if you're in Portland, keep in mind that many cable packages will offer games in HD starting in January if they don't now. I'm not justifying your bad experience or trying to downplay it: your experience is not fun and your criticism is valid. For those who may still be trying to figure out the best way to watch the game: our very own Timmay! Here I have put together a super helpful watch guide.

From BlazerQuestXX55:

Is there a plan for the players to play hard for the entire 48 minutes?

That would be nice

From Timmay!:

Do you think an immediate rematch will benefit the Pelicans, who figured out how to bounce back against Portland yesterday, or the Blazers, who are now looking for a win after a last-minute loss?

In a world where the Blazers can rely on their coaching staff to make effective adjustments, I would say the advantage lies with the Blazers, who, despite not having Shaedon Sharpe, Matisse Thybulle or Robert Williams III available, still have it with a rotation of minutes and players there is an effectiveness advantage as New Orleans faces Murray and Trey Murphy III. Why it matters: Super substitute Jordan Hawkins fired the Blazers to 24 points on 8-12 shooting. The Blazers should be able to take that away. SHOULD…be able to take that away. Will they? I don't know.

Even though Camara (and Clingan at times) were able to stop Zion Williamson for the most part, he's more likely to shoot better than the 4-15 he posted than shoot the same or worse.

Final answer: Advantage New Orleans.

Of tickets cost too much:

Will the NBA get rid of these back-to-backs? Or do we stick with it for the cost savings.

In a Blazer's Edge first… I'll let a READER answer this question! Your response from Max Contract: “They designed it this way to reduce travel for the teams. That's a smart way to do it, especially if you take a day between games.” Bingo.

From jtkerr791:

When can the home fans experience their first home win? Did we miss our best chance of a home win until December with Friday's narrow defeat?

The Hawks on November 17th seems like a lucrative opportunity. Their two wins came against the Nets and the Bulls – not exactly the most feared opponents in the NBA.

From LeftCoaster25:

Ayton's lack of consistent effort is sometimes difficult to watch, especially given his salary. Are there any decent young bigs out there that we could potentially pair with Clingan to take the 5th spot for a season? How much hope is there in Duop?

Has no one ever told you that comparison is the thief of joy? NEVER compare Ayton to his contact! Nothing good will come of it! Plus, I'm pretty firmly convinced that Ayton's contract doesn't allow him to be replaced any time soon anyway. I think it's more likely that Ayton and Clingan will swap starting and backup roles in the coming years before Ayton is traded. As for Reath, he is what he is: an undersized center. He can be good as a minutes sponge or an emergency backup, but I don't think he'll ever be more than that as an NBA player even if he is (according to literally every report I've ever heard from anyone involved). interacted with him). he) an A+ person.

About the opponent

John Hollinger of The Athletic (subscription required) wrote an article about NBA players poised for big years, including Pelicans star Zion Williamson:

Zion Williamson, PF/C, New Orleans – This is purely an eye test: Williamson finished last season with the best basketball of his career. He was in the midst of defeating the Lakers in a play-in game when his Achilles tendon gave him away. All of that seems to have carried over to this year, where he's looked fantastic in the preseason – statistically, sure, but even more so physically, flying past people like he was a rookie and piling up tons of layups.

All of this is reinforced by his expected position change to center. Even if it's not full-time, he should have enough reps at this point that he can enjoy blowing past overwhelmed centers or compromising defenses as a rim-running screener when they try to keep up with him smaller.

Williamson missed the Pelicans' opener due to illness, but that should be a brief absence. I don't know exactly how many games we'll see from this version of him, but I'm excited about the possibility of seeing a full season with Williamson at his peak. This feels like the season we might get it.

SI.com's Dylan Sanders told us what the Pelicans may have learned from watching Zion make his season debut against the Blazers, and what his crucial block on Anfernee Simons says about Williamsons' health:

Trail Blazers guard Anfernee Simons raced to the rim for the game-winning basket, sending the game into overtime. Williamson, already in the paint, showed off his verticality and hit the ball before it reached the rim, sending it right back to the ground. He rightly celebrated and began giving his speech as he walked across the square. The 23-year-old has battled his fair share of injuries early in his basketball career, but clearly still has the explosiveness to hit people at the rim. He had a total of four blocks against Portland, a feat he only accomplished once last season. It was just his sixth career game with at least three blocks and second with four or more. There is no need to worry about it exploding at the moment.