Yang Hansen and the Portland Trail Blazers won a 124-123 victory over the Sacramento Kings in preseason action last night. The game was plenty fun to watch, but the matchup also brought up an interesting question.

Contemplating the Blazers and Kings going at it in the regular season is kind of like anticipating a fight between a fifth grader and a seventh grader at final recess on a Wednesday. (In the old days, I mean. Obviously we don’t condone bullying or solving problems with violence. Use your words and appropriate mediation, kids.) This isn’t going to be a heavyweight battle for the WBC belt. But as far as this school goes, it might resolve a few things. More to the point, it has the potential to elevate the status of the plucky fifth grader.

The Blazers are that fifth grader in thi

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