The Los Angeles Lakers are in a must win state of mind if they have any hopes of making the playoffs, and they'll look to win at home Tuesday night against the New Orleans Hornets at 10:30 p.m. ET.

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Via ESPN:

Getting Metta World Peace back should make them feel even better.

World Peace is expected to return from a torn meniscus nearly a month earlier than anticipated Tuesday night at Staples Center as the desperate Lakers look for an 11th straight win over the Hornets.

Los Angeles (40-37) won 11 of its first 14 after the All-Star break to grab a one-game lead for the Western Conference's eighth seed, but it's slipped a bit over the last three weeks. Sunday's 109-95 loss to the Clippers was the Lakers' fifth in nine games, and after Utah's 97-90 win at Golden State later that night, Los Angeles found itself a half-game behind the Jazz for the final playoff spot.

Utah also owns the tiebreaker.

"We've got a bigger challenge than worrying about beating the Clippers in one game," Kobe Bryant said. "... Our concern is playing well in order to get into the playoffs, get guys healthy, and go in there and see what we can do."

Steve Nash is likely to miss his fourth straight with a hamstring injury on Tuesday, but the Lakers should get a surprise return from World Peace. The mercurial forward suffered his knee injury March 25 at Golden State and Los Angeles believed he'd be out until early May -- if the Lakers were even still playing then -- but he's been cleared to go after recovering from surgery in less than two weeks.

"We've got a chance to make a push for this championship run," World Peace told reporters Monday after practice at the Lakers' training complex. "We all need it. All the guys under contract, injured or not injured, we all need each other to make a run at this thing."