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Blazers need epic comeback to stay alive

No NBA team has ever started 0-3 in a seven-game series and rallied to win.

When the Portland Trail Blazers finished the regular season in third place in the Western Conference, it was their highest finish in 18 years.

That all could be for naught. Three straight losses to the New Orleans Pelicans mean the Blazers would have to pull off a record-setting comeback to advance to the next playoff round. No NBA team has ever started 0-3 in a seven-game series and rallied to win.

It's one of four playoff games Saturday: the Minnesota Timberwolves host the Houston Rockets on Saturday night in Game 3; the Miami Heat takes on the Philadelphia 76ers in the Eastern Conference; and the Utah Jazz visit the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 3.

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TRAIL BLAZERS AT PELICANS

Pelicans lead 3-0. Game 4, 2 p.m. PDT, TNT.

NEED TO KNOW: The sixth-seeded Pelicans are on the cusp of a surprising sweep of the third-seeded Blazers, and their margin of victory has grown in each game. They dominated Game 3, leading by as many as 20 points in the first half and 33 in the second. Veteran guard Rajon Rondo has masterfully run the offense, and the Pelicans have played unselfishly with a different scoring leader in each game: Anthony Davis with 35 in Game 1, Jrue Holiday with 33 in Game 2 and Nikola Miroticwith 30 in Game 3.

KEEP AN EYE ON: Portland's body language, intensity and aggressiveness. Guard Damian Lillard challenged the Blazers to ramp up those aspects of their game, stressing that the Pelicans were "a lot more aggressive than we were and we didn't dish it back out. I think in the playoffs and in a situation like this, when a team is coming for you like that, you've got to maybe go out of your way to do it back, even if that means foul trouble or some altercations happen out there."

PRESSURE IS ON: Lillard. The Pelicans have sold out to stop the Portland star, who missed nine of 14 shots in Game 3. "It's either going to be a tough shot, or I've got to give the ball up," Lillard said. "I've got to trust making the right play, and when it comes time I've got to take my chances and I've got to take those tough shots."

INJURY UPDATE: Blazers starting forward Evan Turner missed Game 3 because of a toe injury in Game 2. The team did not update his status on Friday.

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