HORNETS’ ALL STAR PAUL OUT INDEFINITELY WITH KNEE INJURY

While the sports fans of New Orleans are busy toasting the good fortune of their football team, their basketball team hasn’t fared quite so well.  So as the Saints prepare to take on the Indianapolis Colts in the first Superbowl appearance in franchise history, the New Orleans Hornets are preparing for life without their all star guard Chris Paul.  Paul will be sidelined indefinitely due to an injured knee, and his team is now figuring out how to fill the void left by his absence.

The original diagnosis of the injury was fairly benign—a simple knee bruise.  Unfortunately, a routine MRI revealed more damage than originally expected.  Further examination revealed that Paul had suffered torn cartilage in his left knee and will have to undergo arthroscopic surgery.  Team coach Jeff Bower provided this update:

"We're in fact-finding stages right now, gathering as much information as possible for decisions to be made to take the next steps. It is likely there will be a surgical solution for it. We don't have a timetable for Paul's return right now, nor do we know a surgical procedure right now."

Paul originally hurt his knee in a game against Golden State last Wednesday and then re-injured it on Friday night against the Chicago Bulls.  He sat out Saturday’s game against Memphis and may be out of action for quite some time.  Unidentified sources familiar with Paul’s injury suggest that test results showed a partially torn meniscus and that he would miss several months.

Rookie Darren Collison will start in Paul’s place and played very well in a weekend win over the Grizzlies.  Collison set a Hornets rookie record with 18 assists to go along with 17 points.  He sounded an optimistic tone:

"It's nothing I haven't seen before. We've been jelling with Chris, and without him I don't think it's going to stop us."

The Hornets do catch a break as they’ll play their next three games at home.  New Orleans will welcome the Phoenix Suns to ‘The Big Easy’ on Monday night.  The Charlotte Bobcats come in on Wednesday followed by the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday night.