Dwight Howard says shoulder 'real sore' but dismisses possibility of surgery

Dwight Howard said he may miss some games, but dismissed the idea of surgery. (Stephen Dunn/Getty Images)

The Los Angeles Lakers suffered a loss to the Suns in Phoenix on Wednesday night as Steve Nash watched a three game win streak come to an end at the hands of his former team and Dwight Howard saw a more serious injury to his nagging shoulder pain.

Howard told reporters after game that he is now in the worst pain he's felt since injuring his shoulder nearly a month ago against the Los Angeles Clippers when he subsequently sat out three games to recondition the muscles in his shoulder. He said he would consider missing games again because it's "real sore" and that the entire right side of his body is hurting.

But when asked about the possibility of surgery, he simply replied, "not right now." He finished the game playing 29 minutes, five minutes less than his season average, recording nine points and 14 rebounds in the loss:

"It's real sore. Everything on (the right) side (of my body) is hurting pretty bad right now. I'm going to try as much as I can but I don't want to cause more damage to my shoulder. I don't want to (miss any games), but we'll see."