The rehab has worked.

The waiting is just about over.

Jamal Mashburn won't be in uniform when the Charlotte Hornets face the Memphis Grizzlies this afternoon at the Charlotte Coliseum, but that should be the last time he'll be forced to watch helplessly from the sidelines.

Mashburn is scheduled to rejoin the team on Monday night when the Hornets play at Milwaukee, returning to action after spending the past 13 weeks on the injured list with an abdominal strain.

"I'll be ready Monday," Mashburn said on Friday night at halftime of the Hornets' 116-106 win over Indiana. "It's time to go out there and play again. It's something I enjoy doing, and I'm really looking forward to it. It's been tough sitting on the sidelines."

Mashburn, the Hornets' leading scorer last season at 20.1, hasn't played since a home loss to Portland on Nov. 17. He was averaging 18 points, 6.8 rebounds and 3.9 assists through nine games at that point, but he had been hampered by the injury since early in training camp.

He has worked for the past two months with a therapist who specializes in treating abdominal muscle tears, and the rehabilitation apparently has worked. A Monday return will be one week ahead of the therapist's initial best-case time line.

In a worst-case scenario, Mashburn would have been forced to have season-ending surgery.

"It feels pretty good right now," Mashburn said. "I don't think a lot of people realize what I went through. If I had the surgery, I would have probably been done for the whole year and probably years after that. So I'm happy that I chose the conservative route, and it's worked out really well. Things have come together with a lot of time and patience and hard work. It just feels good to feel healthy and to feel whole again."

Coach Paul Silas has been counting the days until Mashburn's return, so he's thrilled to be getting his star forward back.

Mashburn has been working out with the team for the past couple of weeks. He has been allowed to go through full-scale workouts and scrimmage with his teammates only a few times, but already Silas said he can see the impact that Mashburn is capable of having.

"He's a really good player and you kinda lose sight of that when he's not around because you just don't feel the impact that much," Silas said.

"But once he comes back you see how much you missed. You have a guy that can initiate your offense. He's playing tough defense. He's rebounding. He's passing the basketball. You play a game to seven and he takes it and makes it, so now your go-to guy is back, and that's just invaluable, really. And he's already taking a leadership role again. So it's just great to have him back."

Silas said he thinks Mashburn is already far enough along that Mashburn should be able to step in and contribute quickly. The plans are for Mashburn to go immediately into the starting lineup Monday night.

"He's a little rusty basketball-wise, but his conditioning is as good as it's ever been," Silas said. "All he needs is some game conditions to get his game back. He's shooting it well, and he looks now like he looked late last season. I think he was really hurting early this season."

Mashburn is similarly optimistic.

"There'll be some rust there, but I'm sure those things will work themselves out," Mashburn said. "I think I'll be all right. I have a lot of confidence in my ability and it'll get better over time. I'm sure I won't hurt the team. I only can help.

"But I'm just looking forward to getting back out there. It just feels good to be part of the group again."

The Hornets, 25-25 and riding a two-game winning streak, can move back over the .500 mark for the first time since early November with a victory this afternoon. They haven't been over .500 since they were 2-1.

They beat the Grizzlies in Memphis 97-79 on Super Bowl Sunday two weeks ago.