In the game, Dwight Howard fouled out in the closing minutes and he was forced to watch the Clippers regain momentum while on the bench. However, a bigger concern for Howard and Laker fans was his shoulder injury midway through the third quarter.
Even though Howard remained in the game despite the injury, he still felt pain in the locker-room after the loss. Mark Medina reported that Howard felt soreness in the right shoulder he injured.
“It’s sore,” he said. “We’ll see how it feels tomorrow.”
Howard was grimacing from that point on and it was clear that the shoulder was bothering him. Howard is a very important player in the Lakers’ search for find an identity, and they cannot afford to lose him to injury. However, the fact that he played the remainder of the game despite the injury shows that the setback should not be too severe.