New Orleans learned while blowing a big lead to Portland on Monday night that adjusting to life without Paul may be even harder than imagined.

The good news for the Hornets is they may not have to endure without him for much more than a few games. An MRI indicated that Paul had only a mild strain of his right groin and he is listed as day-to-day.

"I feel good," Paul said. "Maybe I can play (Wednesday), maybe Friday, so I'm going to just go with it and see how it feels. ... Any time something's torn or something like that, it can be a long time, but this right here, I felt like that was good news."

Based on the way they fell apart against Portland, the Hornets could be in for a serious struggle if Paul's pain lingers.

New Orleans led by 17 when Paul left with 1:30 to go in the third quarter. The Trail Blazers quickly erased the deficit, outscoring the Hornets 38-15 in the fourth quarter for a 97-89 victory.

The Hornets are now in the midst of a three-game losing streak, their longest of the season, with home games coming up against Chicago on Wednesday, Toronto on Friday and Minnesota on Sunday before New Orleans travels to Memphis on Monday.

Paul wants to be back sometime during that stretch, but head coach Byron Scott said he may sit his best player for all four of those games.

"Everybody knows the type of heart he has and how much he wants to play, but I don't think it's possible (for Paul) to play" Wednesday, Scott said. "If anything, (if) he plays tomorrow, he does more damage to it. So we want to take a couple of days and see if he's a fast healer. Until that thing is pretty much cleared up, we're going to wait."