The playoff season has started off badly for the Trailblazers. There's no other way to put it. On Tuesday night they once again fell to a motivated New Orleans team on their home court, leaving them in an 0-2 hole in the best of seven series with the next two games on the road. Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum had a few good moments, but were outplayed by their New Orleans counterparts, Jrue Holiday and Rajon Rondo. Anthony "The Brow" Davis dominated, as usual. It was a close game with several lead changes, but the Blazers got out-hustled down the stretch and lost 111-102. Ugh.

The crowd was in this one from the start as most of us expected the Blazers to bounce back strong from the gut punch loss in game one. Al Farouq Aminu brought the spark the first half, knocking down triples and eating up rebounds. He even did a reasonable job of containing Anthony Davis on defense. Mo Harkless returned from his knee surgery and received a big cheer when he entered the game. The Pelicans made it clear they weren't going down easy, trading buckets even as Harkless and Aminu heated up. Lillard had another slow start and fans could be heard grumbling as he missed several shots and seemed to lack his usual lift when he drove to the hoop. Questions about the health of his recent ankle sprain surfaced soon after the game. Want to see some fan pictures? Read on!

Portland led by as many as 9 points in the second quarter and carried a 59-54 lead into the half. Things seemed to be going alright and most of us hoped the Blazers would simply put the Pelicans away early in the third period. Here's a sampling of the fan scenery at the the break:

This gang was clearly digging the playoffs:

Same with these guys:

Look! It's Blazer dancers Lindsay and Erica. I asked Lindsay if she died her hair red for the playoffs and she said, "It's always this way."

These two were stoked:

And these women had the Rip City spirit:

Okay, back to the game. The Pelicans came out swinging in the second half and closed the gap almost immediately. Jrue Holiday turned in a career performance with 33 points, a playoff high for him. The crowd got restless as the New Orleans lead grew to double digits. At times the arena thundered with boos and chants of "ref you suck!" and things simply refused to fall the Blazer's way. It's true there were a few weak calls but they hardly made the difference in this game.

The fact of the matter is New Orleans is a quality team that has taken our Blazers by surprise. Rajon Rondo is back to his old crafty playoff form, Davis is a beast, and Jrue Holiday is playing the best ball of his life. New Orleans is a team that is clicking at just the right time. Meanwhile Lillard and company seem stuck mostly in second gear. Lillard did manage to bring the crowd to life when he hit a fading three pointer and got fouled with 7:30 left in the game. His ensuing free throw tied things up at 97 and we all fastened our seat belts for the big finish. Things appeared to be going well when Harkless hit a big three pointer to give the Blazers a one point lead with 3 minutes to play. But on the following play Nikola Mirotic hit a crazy rainbow three to take the lead right back. The Blazers never recovered and the game slipped away from that point on.

Things do not look good for our home team at this point. Both Evan Turner and Jusuf Nurkic exited the game with injuries (Turner-toe, Nurkic-leg) and are now being evaluated for game three. In NBA playoff history 29 teams have lost the first two games at home. Of those 29, only 4 have gone on to win the series. So it's not impossible, but the odds are long. The Blazers absolutely must win the next game on Thursday night in New Orleans (6pm PST) if they hope to stay alive.

Fans looked tired and defeated on their way out of the Moda center on Tuesday, but many of them also know that this team has faced tough odds all year long. The entire season had nearly been written off before the Blazers came storming back to claim the 3rd seed in the west. Perhaps we can take some solace in the fact that this team plays best with their backs firmly against the wall. Do they have another surprise run left in them? We shall see.