NEW ORLEANS -- New Orleans Hornets guard Baron Davis underwent successful surgery Tuesday to repair torn cartilage in his left knee, the team said in a news release.

	Davis

Davis, who has averaged 16.8 points and 6.9 assists in 36 games for the Hornets this season, is expected to miss approximately six weeks.

On Monday, Davis said the injury, suffered Friday against Portland, could be a kind of blessing in the long run because the rehabilitation period also will allow him to rest his bad back.

"Now I'm going to have a proper rest for my back and get the proper treatment for that as well as my knee. So when I come back, I can be a lot stronger," Davis said Monday night, shortly before the Hornets hosted the Milwaukee Bucks.

The fourth-year pro never missed a game before this season. But he began to struggle with back spasms late last season. In December, he sat out a game for the first time in his career when the Hornets played at Boston, and he confirmed he had a herniated disk.

Before Monday, Davis, 23, had missed eight games this season because of his back, and when he did play, he usually rested by lying on the floor with his feet on a chair.

When Davis played Friday it was his fourth straight game in the lineup. He left the game near the end of the third quarter after driving to the basket and falling awkwardly as his knee appeared to give out.

Team physician Dr. Gregor Hoffman performed the surgery at Memorial Hospital in New Orleans.

On another Hornets injury front, forward Jamal Mashburn will be in the lineup for New Orleans against the Bucks on Tuesday night. Mashburn strained his right hamstring in Friday's game.

New Orleans on Monday waived Matt Bullard and signed New Orleans native Randy Livingston to a 10-day contract to back up New Orleans native Robert Pack, who will start in Davis' absence.

Livingston has played with five different NBA teams over the past six years, averaging 4.1 points and 2.1 assists in 171 games. Livingston had been with Sioux Falls Skyforce of the CBA, where he was averaging 14.0 points, 8.2 assists and 5.3 rebounds in 12 games this season.

Bullard had spent the entire season on the injured list due to degenerative disc disease.

Information from SportsTicker was used in this report.