By: Jim Eichenhofer, Pelicans.com, @Jim_Eichenhofer

MINNEAPOLIS – Although he’s still experiencing some soreness from a Dec. 23 hard fall to the floor in Sacramento that caused him to miss the past three games, New Orleans Pelicans guard Eric Gordon will be back on the court tonight at Minnesota (7 p.m., Pelicans Radio Network). Gordon had been sidelined with a right hip contusion, the result of an awkward fall after being fouled by Sacramento’s Isaiah Thomas.

“It’s going to be good to be back out there,” Gordon said after Wednesday morning’s shootaround at Target Center. “It was tough throughout this whole (recent stretch) to find a good time to play.”

Gordon had appeared in each of the season’s first 26 games and is the third-leading scorer for New Orleans (14-15) at 15.4 points per game. He’s also shooting 39.4 percent from three-point range, the best rate of his six-year NBA career. The 6-foot-3, 215-pound guard had hoped to return quickly from the injury. He ended up missing games vs. Denver, Houston and Portland.

“I feel like I can give myself a chance to be productive,” Gordon said of deciding to play despite not necessarily being 100 percent physically. “I do have a lot of soreness and pain, but it’s all about being able to tolerate it, and being able to move around. I think I’m able to move a lot better over the past three days.”