The Hornets will be without starting point guard Chris Paul for at least two weeks with a severely sprained left ankle. Paul has played in 10 games (all starts) this season for the Hornets and he is averaging 34.0 minutes, 23.8 points, 3.4 rebounds, 9.2 assists and 1.7 steals per game. Paul was the player the Hornets could least afford to lose on this team because he’s the guy that makes everything go. Rookie Darren Collison will likely replace Paul in the starting lineup and that’s a lot to ask of a rookie. Collison has played in 6 games (0 starts) this season for the Hornets and he is averaging 11.8 minutes, 6.5 points, 1.2 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game. He does have a nice upside but he will have a lot of pressure on him to produce right away. Veteran Bobby Brown will also likely see a bump in playing time with Paul out of action. Brown has played in 9 games (0 starts) for the Hornets so far this season and he is averaging 17.6 minutes, 7.9 points, 0.8 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game. The Hornets have to hope that Paul makes a real quick recovery.

Rookie guard Adam Haluska will miss up to the next two months for the Hornets with a severely sprained ankle. Haluska hurt his ankle in practice which has been his only action this season as he has yet to play in a game. The veteran Hornets won’t miss Haluska much while he’s out.

Starting center Tyson Chandler is out indefinately with a serious toe injury.  It hurts him to even walk.  He could return if the Hornets make the playoffs, but they’ll have to do that without him.  He played in 73 games this season and he averaged 9.5 points, 12.4 rebounds, 0.9 assists and 1.8 blocks per game.  He also shot an amazing 62.4% from the floor, but most of his shots were put-backs and dunks.  He will be hard to replace especially on the defensive end of the basketball court.

The Hornets didn’t really need something like this to happen as they are battling tooth and nail for the final spot in the Western Conference Playoffs.  Desmond Mason will miss the remainder of the regular season after having surgery to repair a broken nose.  He could return at some point if the Hornets make the playoffs.  He played in 75 games this season and he averaged 34.3 minutes, 13.7 points, 4.6 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game.

Stojakovic has been practicing with the team and he may return to action as soon as next week.  The Bobcats really need him because he’s their best outside shooter.  Having him back would open the paint even more for David West and Tyson Chandler.  He has only played in 13 games this season and he has averaged 32.7 minutes, 17.8 points, 4.2 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game this season.  Peja has hit 40.5% of his 3-pointers this season and 81.6% of his free throws as he is an excellent shooter.  The Hornets really need him if they are going to make a legit push for the playoffs.

Bobby Jackson is out indefinately with a strained right achilles tendon.  This comes at a bad time for the Hornets who are battling for the #8 spot in the Western Conference playoff race.  Jackson has played in 46 games this season and he has averaged 23.7 minutes, 10.5 points, 3.1 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game.  He does need to shoot a little better as he’s only hit 39% of his shots from the floor this season.

Forward Marcus Vinicius will miss the rest of the season after tearing his ACL recently.  His rookie season ended before he even started to get anything going.  He only played in 8 games and averaged 6.3 minutes, 1.4 points, 0.3 rebounds and 0.4 assists.

Bobby Jackson is a trooper.  He’s been playing even though he has five cracked ribs.  Jackson is averaging 23.3 minutes, 10.6 points, 3.9 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game this season.  The Hornets are lucky that Jackson is tough because they can’t afford to lose another good player with Chris Paul, Peja Stojakovic and David West all out.

The Hornets will be without their best player, Chris Paul, for 4 weeks with a severely sprained right ankle.  Paul has averaged 18.4 points, 4.4 rebounds, 9.0 assists and 1.8 steals per game so far this season.  Jannero Pargo will run the point until Paul returns, but he’s nowhere near the point guard that Paul is.  Pargo is averaging 9.6 points, 2.7 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game so far this season.

The Hornets have lost two key starting players for while.  Peja Stojakovic (major back surgery) and David West (arthoscopic elbow surgery) will both miss alot of time in the near future.  The Hornets are banking on guys like Rasual Butler, Hilton Armstrong, Cedric Simmons and Marc Jackson to provide big-time minutes until the pair of stars return…..and it doesn’t look pretty.

Stojakovic had major back surgery last Sunday to remove a disc fragment in his back.  He will miss up to 2 months with this injury.  Stojakovic was averaging 17.8 points and 4.2 rebounds per game.  He also was hitting an outstanding 40.5% of his 3-pointers, which will be very hard for the Hornets to replace.

David West had arthoscopic surgery on his right elbow on Wednesday morning and will miss the next 2-8 weeks.  He was averaging 17.4 points, 8.3 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game this season.