Eric Gordon predicted on Wednesday that he will make his season debut with the New Orleans Hornets before the end of the month.

Dell Demps said the Hornets won't make a determination about when Gordon will play his first game until after he goes through a couple practices with teammates.

Gordon will rejoin the Hornets on Saturday after spending a month rehabilitating his right knee in Los Angeles.

"I had a lot of pain and all throughout my knee cap,’’ Gordon said before Wednesday night’s game against the Los Angeles Clippers in which he watched from the bench. "It shut down all my muscles around my leg from my calf to even my quads. So that’s what I was dealing with and if I would have kept on going I would have had to undergo possible surgery.’’

While Demps said it will be smart for the Hornets to "gradually bring him back," Gordon stated: "I'm more than 90 percent sure I'm going to play before this month is over. That's what I'm striving for and I'm starting now to turn things up.''