After winning three straight games and seemingly getting back on the right track with a new style of play, the Los Angeles Lakers are right back where they started losing to one of the worst teams in the NBA on Wednesday falling to the Phoenix Suns in Steve Nash’s return to his former stomping ground.
As a result of the loss, the Lakers snapped their winning streak and may have lost superstar center Dwight Howard for some time due to a re-aggravated shoulder injury. Howard suffered the injury in the fourth quarter on Wednesday after former Laker Shannon Brown stripped the ball from Howard while he was attempting to attack the basket following an offensive rebound.
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After heading to the bench to get checked out, Howard sat out the rest of the game after re-aggravating the shoulder injury and will be re-evaluated on Thursday according to Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com:
Howard checked out of the game and did not return as the Suns finished on a 19-8 run without him. Howard’s shoulder will be re-evaluated Thursday after the team flies to Minneapolis and his availability for Friday’s game against the Minnesota Timberwolves will be determined.
Howard talked about the injury and the pain following the game via McMenamin:
“It’s real sore,” Howard told reporters after icing his shoulder and applying kinesiology tape to the joint following the game. “Everything on (the right) side (of my body) is hurting pretty bad right now.”
At this point in time, Howard seems to be doing everything within his power to avoid surgery on the shoulder that would end his season. Howard doesn’t want to go through a similar rehab process during the summer with his shoulder as he did with his back last year.
Although Howard remains adamant about avoiding surgery, the injury continues to be a problem for the perennial All-Star and it may ultimately be too much to handle moving forward.
