Chris Paul To Return From Injury Tonight Vs. Mavericks

Chris Paul, who has missed the past 25 games after undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery in early February, will make his return to the Hornets' starting lineup Monday night against the Mavericks, the team just announced.

The move means rookie Darren Collison will return to the bench, while Marcus Thornton is set to start tonight as the two-guard.

New Orleans went just 8-17 while Paul sat out.

For all things Hornets, and a game thread for tonight's contest, visit SB Nation's Hornets blog, At The Hive.

As it turns out, Chris Paul might be back even sooner than expected. According to Yahoo! Sports' Marc Spears, Paul is listed as a "game-time decision" on the Hornets' injury report for Monday night's game against the Mavericks.

Now, if I were the Hornets, I'd take this slow and only play Paul when he's 100 percent healthy, since they're essentially out of the playoff race anyway, but I'm not the Hornets. They may figure it's worth getting Paul in for as long as possible to see how he plays with rookies Darren Collison and Marcus Thornton. Either way, it should be interesting. 

According to ESPN's Marc Stein, New Orleans superstar Chris Paul is set to return from an injury that's sidelined him since January 29th. The best point guard on earth is BACK! From Stein:

One source close to the All-Star guard said that Paul and the team are weighing whether to launch the comeback Monday night at home against Dallas or Wednesday night at home against Cleveland.

Hornets coach Jeff Bower told reporters after a loss in Utah on Saturday night that "we will be seeing [Paul] soon . . . hopefully earlier in the week."

In Paul's absence, Hornets rookies Darren Collison and Marcus Thornton have blossomed, making Paul's return all the more intriguing. How will the upstarts mesh with the superstar? And will Collison, who's looked like a potential starter while taking over for Paul, be able to coexist with CP3 in the backcourt?

It's definitiely something to watch. And however promising the younger Hornets have looked with Paul on the sidelines, New Orleans has gone 3-12 the past few weeks, fading into oblivion after Paul had kept them above .500 the first few months. Now, the fans in New Orleans get their superstar back, and the rest of us fans have the privalege of watching Chris Paul again. Good times all around.

Chris Paul has been shelved since February 4 when he had arthroscopic surgery on his left knee.  At the time it was reported that the Hornets expected him to miss 4-6 weeks with the injury.  Today, Paul was cleared to begin practicing. 

From NOLA.com:

Three-time All-Star point guard Chris Paul was cleared Friday to begin participating in drills with his teammates at three-quarters speed, New Orleans Hornets Coach Jeff Bower said.

Paul participated in Friday's shootaround at the New Orleans Arena, but Bower said there is still no set date on his return.

Paul has played in 38 games this season for the 32-33 Hornets.  He is averaging 20.4 points per game with 11.2 assists per game.  Not too shabby.  It remains to be seen how Paul's quickness will be affected by the surgery.

Hornets point guard Chris Paul will miss four to six weeks, after undergoing arthroscopic surgery on his left knee, according to ESPN's Marc Stein:

Hornets just announced that they expect Chris Paul to miss 4-to-6 weeks after surgery on his left knee Thursday.

Paul was averaging 20.4 points and 11.2 assists per game, before it was reported he had suffered ligament damage from an injury from earlier in the season.