New Orleans Pelicans guard Tyreke Evans (1), Pelicans vs Hawks 2015

New Orleans Pelicans guard Tyreke Evans (1) drives past Atlanta Hawks guard Kent Bazemore (24) at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans Monday, February 2, 2015. (Photo by David Grunfeld, NOLA.com |The Times-Picayune)

(DAVID GRUNFELD)

There is a chance New Orleans Pelicans injured point guard Tyreke Evans will be back in the lineup on Sunday against Denver Nuggets after missing Tuesday night's game against the Brooklyn Nets because of a sprained left ankle.

Evans is still experiencing soreness. However, Coach Monty Williams said he thinks Evans will be ready.

''I think he will be ready to play, but I wouldn't write it in stone,'' Williams said after Thursday's practice. Tyreke is a gamer. He wanted to come back the other day, but the trainers wouldn't allow it. He looked Ok today and I think he will ramp it up tomorrow (Friday).We have a lot of time to get him ready.''

Evans was forced out of Monday night's game against the Milwaukee Bucks in the third quarter after coming down awkwardly in the lane after stepping on the foot of Bucks forward Ersan Ilyasova before making a pass to guard Norris Cole.

Evans is the Pelicans' second-leading scorer with a 16.7 average. He has totaled 10 or more assists in 10 of the last 19 games before his injury.

In Tuesday night's 111-91 victory against Brooklyn Nets, Norris Cole replaced Evans at point guard and scored 16 points on 6-of-11 shooting in 29 minutes.

The Pelicans have won nine of their last 11 games to move into the eighth seed in the Western Conference, a half-game ahead of the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Meanwhile, it is not known if the Pelicans will have their complete roster available for the stretch run with 17 games remaining in the season. There remains no set timetable on when starting point guard Jrue Holiday may return from a stress reaction injury in his lower right leg.

Last week, Holiday said he was no longer wearing a protective walking boot to help in the healing process. However, it apparently didn't work because Holida he was still experiencing pain and some swelling. in his lower right leg caused by inflammation.

Holiday has not played since a Jan. 12 game against the Boston Celtics.While rehabbing during the All-Star break last month, Holiday aggravated the stress reaction injury.

Williams said he had no new update to offer on backup forward Ryan Anderson, who remains sidelined with a MCL sprain in his right knee.

Last week, Anderson said he was no longer wearing a knee brace and is making progress with his rehabilitation work. Anderson said he is still unable to do any basketball work, but has been doing strengthening exercises in a pool.

Anderson has not played since Feb. 21 game against the Miami Heat after he was injured when Heat guard Mario Chalmers stepped on his right ankle, which caused his right knee to buckle.