The Portland Trail Blazers hosted a conference call with coach Terry Stotts Wednesday afternoon, one day after his team lost 111-102 to the New Orleans Pelicans in Game 2 of the first round of the Western Conference Playoffs.

The Blazers, who opened with home-court advantage after earning the third seed in the West, traveled to New Orleans on Wednesday facing a stunning 0-2 hole in the best-of-seven series.

Here are a few highlights from Stotts' chat with reporters:

LINEUP CHANGES?

After a loss in Game 1, Stotts was resistant to making "wholesale" changes to his game plan and schemes, saying that he felt tweaks here and there could help the Blazers even the series.

Those tweaks, he said, included a few "new wrinkles" and a "couple new plays." He also mixed up his player rotation, benching backup guard Shabazz Napier and extending the minutes of Zach Collins -- who was exceptional in Game 2 -- among other moves.

But now that the Blazers are facing an 0-2 hole and find themselves desperate for a win, everything, it seems, is on the table. When asked if he was considering making lineup changes for Game 3, Stotts didn't bat an eye.

"Yes," he said.

HARKLESS BACK TO THE STARTING LINEUP?

One change Stotts could be mulling is moving Moe Harkless back into the starting lineup.

The underrated forward returned to play in Game 2 after missing the previous 10 games -- including Game 1 -- with a left knee injury, and he excelled, recording 11 points, five rebounds and one block, while making 5 of 5 shots. Harkless' impact was felt almost immediately after he checked into the game, as he completed a driving layup, blocked a Solomon Hill jumper and streaked ahead for a fast-break dunk. When Harkless checked in, the Blazers trailed 17-10. When he finished that dunk, the Blazers led 23-21.

By the end of the night, Harkless logged a plus/minus of plus-10, by far the best on the team.

After an up-and-down season, Harkless emerged as a critical piece of the Blazers' late-season surge up the Western Conference standings. His defensive versatility, athleticism and long-range shooting was so important, Damian Lillard called him the team's "X-factor." So why didn't rejoin the starting lineup for Game 2?

It turns out Harkless was on a minutes-restriction.

"We didn't want to overload his minutes," Stotts said. "I wanted to be able to save his minutes in case we wanted to finish the game with him. If he played 6 to 8 minutes to start the game, that's it for the half. That was the primary reason."

In the end it didn't matter. In a close game in which the Pelicans couldn't put away until late in the fourth quarter, Harkless -- with the blessing of the team's health and performance staff -- ended up playing 27 minutes, including the entire fourth quarter.

EVAN TURNER QUESTIONABLE

Starting forward Evan Turner suffered a right toe contusion in the second quarter of Tuesday night's loss and was only able to play 4 minutes, 56 seconds in the second half. The injury occurred when he collided awkwardly with E'Twan Moore while they pursued a loose ball and the Pelicans' starting small forward inadvertently kicked his big toe area.

The Blazers have listed Turner as questionable for Game 3.

"Evan's always positive," Stotts said. "He said he'll be ready to go. But we'll see how it is tomorrow. He was certainly in no position to play last night."

0-2 HOLE NOTHING NEW

This is not the first time under Stotts the Blazers have faced an 0-2 deficit in the first round of the Western Conference Playoffs.

In 2015, against the L.A. Clippers, the Blazers opened a best-of-seven series by dropping two games in Los Angeles. They went on to win the series in six games.

It's fair to wonder if that experience might help the Blazers as the face another two-game deficit.

"We have some guys on the team from that series," Stotts said. "I think we're good in an underdog role. We've been resilient. We've had some losing streaks and we've bounced back. We've been written off a couple times and we've bounced back. I don't necessarily know if we need to go back to the Clippers series. This team is different. But I do think the character of the team is similar."

AMINU DEFENSE SOLID VS. DAVIS

Lost amid another loss, the exceptional play of Jrue Holiday and the continued struggles of Lillard was the solid defense of Al-Farouq Aminu.

According to NBA.com, the Blazers' lanky forward guarded All-Star big man Anthony Davis on 18 possessions in Game 2 and held him scoreless, forcing three turnovers. After tormenting the Blazers in Game 1, Davis had 22 points and 10 rebounds, while making 9 of 16 shots, heading into the fourth quarter.

But the matchup nightmare did not score in the final quarter, missing his only two field goal attempts.

"He's been doing that since he's been in Portland," Stotts said. "He's guarded a lot of guys like that and usually comes out on the better end of it."

Joe Freeman | jfreeman@oregonian.com | 503-294-5183 | @BlazerFreeman