<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">All-Star forward Jamal Mashburn, on the injured list since Oct. 27, likely won't return to the Hornets' lineup until mid-January because none of his rehabilitation work has included drills on a basketball court. Mashburn said Tuesday that he plans to get an evaluation on his surgically repaired right knee from his doctors in Miami within the next 10 days to determine when he'll return. He has been jogging on a track and doing weight-lifting exercises to strengthen his right knee since Nov. 1, when loose cartilage particles were removed. He suffered the injury, originally diagnosed as a bone bruise, in an intrasquad scrimmage during preseason. </div> New Orleans Times-Picayune
NO is playin great without him, just imagine them with him back. That East isn't too strong, so there is no pressure on Mashburn to come back ASAP. He can take alll the time he wants to recover and be a full 100% when he comes back, and until then Baron will get the job done.
I wouldn't say NO is playing great anymore. They started off great, but since then Baron Davis and NO have cooled down. They are not in danger of not making the playoffs, so he should be able to heal that knee until he is able to go out there and play his best. It is a shame to see any great player have an injury for an extended period of time though.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting PyroManiac:</div><div class="quote_post">I wouldn't say NO is playing great anymore. They started off great, but since then Baron Davis and NO have cooled down. They are not in danger of not making the playoffs, so he should be able to heal that knee until he is able to go out there and play his best. It is a shame to see any great player have an injury for an extended period of time though.</div> Yea this is very true, such as Chris Webber. You don't want to see any player sit because of injuries. I think NO can pick back up their game, they won't slump to under .500 as long as B Diddy is playin.
New orleans is doing great without him. when he returns if he is still in the groove they might be searching through the playoffs for a ring.
If Mashburn returns and he plays as well as he normally does, NO has a chance to make it to the finals as long as in the playoffs Baron Davis plays like he did at the start of the season. The Pacers will probably stumble towards the end of the season as always and the Pistons are not playing very well right now. This causes the Hornets to be the 2nd best team in the East, so they would have an good chance of making it to atleast the conference finals if all goes well.
The Hornets will in all probability be no lower than 4th, assuming that the Pacers and Pistons beat them out. They're ahead of the Pistons right now, and as Pyromaniac said, there's a good chance that the Pacers will stumble. If they get the Central Division title, than the Hornets will be looking at their first #1 seed in team history. They probably won't be second, because it is doubtful that any Atlantic team will have a better record than the central division winner. So the Hornets will be either 1st, 3rd or 4th. I wouldn't worry about Baron. He is used to playing in the playoffs, as in his five year career he's never missed them. He is very clutch(see the Baron Davis rule) and raises his overall level of play, like when he dropped not one but two triple doubles on the Magic in '02. The wild card is Mash. If he can average over 18 ppg, 4 apg and 5 rpg, then the Hornets should be the favorite to win the Eastern Conference. They really don't have any clear weakness in their starting lineup, and their bench is strong too.
