CHARLOTTE

Jamal Mashburn still hasn't decided what to do about the strained abdominal muscle that has forced him onto the Charlotte Hornets' injured list.

But in this case, no news seems to be bad news - and the Hornets are now proceeding on the notion that Mashburn won't be back in action anytime soon.

Team officials confirmed yesterday that Mashburn had two options for dealing with the injury, and neither involves returning to action in the coming weeks.

He can either rest and hope that the injury heals over the course of a month or so, or he can undergo surgery. Arthroscopic surgery would likely keep him out of action for at least two months, and more complicated surgery to reattach the muscle might cause him to miss the rest of the season.

"At this point, we're proceeding as if he's not going to be here anytime soon," Coach Paul Silas said. "What exactly that means long term, I don't know. He hasn't decided what he wants to do yet and until he does, there's no way we can know anything definitive. But if the options are rest or surgery, it's pretty obvious he's not going to be playing for a while."

The Hornets, 6-7 after a 103-101 win at Orlando on Saturday, will return to action tonight at Detroit.

Mashburn, the team's second-leading scorer this season at 18 points a game through nine games, has missed the past four games. He was put on the injured list last Tuesday with what was originally termed a pulled groin and later changed to a strained abdominal muscle. At that time, team officials said they were hopeful Mashburn could return to action this weekend for the start of a six-game trip.