New Orleans Hornets guard Chris Paul is expected to be sidelined for at least a month because of an ankle injury, the NBA team said on Friday.

Paul, leading scorer for the Hornets this season with an average of 18.4 points, severely sprained his right ankle in Tuesday's 102-94 loss to Seattle.

"The injury to Chris is unfortunate, especially in light of the fact that we've been without three of our top players in Peja Stojakovic, David West and Bobby Jackson for an extended period," Hornets general manager Jeff Bower said in a statement.

"But despite our injury troubles, credit is due to coach (Byron) Scott and our players for the resiliency and toughness they've shown through this stretch."

Guard Stojakovic has missed 15 games following back surgery, forward West has missed 21 due to elbow surgery and key reserve Jackson has missed 13 while recovering from a cracked left rib.

Jackson is expected to return within the next two weeks while Stojakovic and West are likely to remain sidelined for at least another two months.

The Hornets lie fourth in the Southwest Division of the Western Conference with a win-loss record of 11-17.