Injury may affect Okafor for opener

As another extended practice came to a close Wednesday, Hornets center Emeka Okafor stood alone as his teammates went through a half-court drill.

Okafor did not miss a regular-season game in two seasons when he played for the Charlotte Bobcats, but he has been mostly a spectator since the opening day of training camp last month with the Hornets because of a strained toe on his right foot.

It has been a setback for the Hornets, who considered Okafor, a 6-foot-10, 260-pound center, their biggest acquisition in their summer of retooling that involved bringing in six new players.

They obtained Okafor from the Charlotte Bobcats in exchange for center Tyson Chandler, who had an injury-filled season in 2008-09 that prompted his being traded.

With a 13.2-points-per-game career scoring average, Okafor is expected to provide more help on offense than Chandler because of his ability to make mid-range shots.

But Okafor has missed the entire preseason and all of training camp. Coach Byron Scott said he is not certain if Okafor will participate in full-scale practices Sunday, when the Hornets turn their attention to next Wednesday's regular-season opener against the San Antonio Spurs.

"To me, it's going to be hard for a guy to be playing and didn't go through the whole preseason and training camp," Scott said. "It's going to take an adjustment for our guys to get used to, and an adjustment for him. He's going to be behind the eight ball whenever he comes back. We were expecting so many things, and now we're kind of behind."

Okafor was injured on the first day of camp after participating in a running drill. Okafor said he felt a twinge in his right foot, and when the injury was diagnosed as a toe problem, team officials projected he would miss up to three weeks before returning to play in the final five preseason games....