Posted Feb 1 2010 1:26PM
NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- Hornets' All-Star point guard Chris Paul is out indefinitely with a left knee injury that will likely require surgery.
An MRI revealed more damage to the knee than the initial diagnosis of a bruise, Hornets coach Jeff Bower said on Monday. The coach refused, however, to confirm reports that Paul had a meniscus tear and would miss at least a month.
"We're in fact-finding stages right now, gathering as much information as possible for decisions to be made to take the next steps," Bower said. "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 watched the Hornets' shootaround on Monday but was unavailable to reporters.
He first hurt his knee in a game at Golden State on Wednesday. He struck the same spot against a camera when he went out of bounds near the end of regulation against the Chicago Bulls on Friday night.
He missed the Hornets' game at Memphis on Saturday.
Yahoo! Sports, citing unidentified sources close to Paul, reported that test results showed a partially torn meniscus and that he would miss one to two months.
Paul, who sat out eight games earlier this year with a sprained ankle, was averaging a team-high 20.4 points and an NBA-best 11.2 assists. He was the runner-up to the Los Angeles Lakers' Kobe Bryant for league MVP in 2007-08 and finished fifth last season.
Rookie Darren Collison, averaging 6.8 points and 3.2 assists, will start in Paul's place. Collison handed out a Hornets rookie-record 18 assists and scored 17 points on Saturday when New Orleans ended Memphis' 11-game home winning streak with a 113-111 overtime victory.
After starting slowly, the Hornets have won 13 of their last 17 games and were tied for the eighth spot in the Western Conference entering Monday night's home game against Phoenix.
In nine games as a starter, Collison was averaging 15.1 points and 7.7 assists.
"It's nothing I haven't seen before," Collison said. "We've been jelling with Chris, and without him I don't think it's going to stop us."
 | The Daily Zap Catch the top highlights and moments from Monday's six games in the NBA in less than two minutes. |
 | Monday's Top 10 Make sure to watch the Top 10 plays from another incredible Monday night in the NBA. |
 | Steal of the Night Greivis Vasquez gets the steal and throws the ball ahead to Marco Belinelli for the and-one dunk. |
 | Nightly Notable LeBron James explodes for 35 points and pulls down eight rebounds in the Heat's victory over the Bucks. |
 | Dunk of the Night Vince Carter drives baseline and finishes with the huge wrap-around dunk. |
 | Block of the Night Gustavo Ayon stops the dunk attempt at the rim. |
 | Assist of the Night Ricky Rubio throws the sweet one-handed blind bounce pass to Kevin Love for the slam. |
 | Play of the Day LeBron James splits the defenders and throws down the monster dunk. |
 | Suns vs. Warriors David Lee comes up big for the Warriors, scoring 28 points and grabbing 12 rebounds as Golden State beat Phoenix 102-96. |
 | Curry to Lee Connection Golden State's Steph Curry hits David Lee cutting into the lane for the jam. |
Copyright © NBA Media Ventures, LLC. All rights reserved. No portion of NBA.com may be duplicated, redistributed or manipulated in any form. By accessing any information beyond this page, you agree to abide by the Privacy Policy / Your California Privacy Rights and Terms of Use. | Ad Choices 
NBA.com is part of Turner - SI Digital, part of the Turner Sports & Entertainment Digital Network.
