Griffin playing with brace

Kelsey Griffin isn't sure how it happened or what exactly she did to her shoulder. But the rookie forward, who's second among first-year players in rebounding (4.8 per game), doesn't plan on missing time because of it.

Griffin will play tonight with a brace on her left shoulder after injuring it Saturday against Los Angeles. She was forced to leave the game with roughly a minute left in the first half when her shoulder apparently popped out and back into the socket -- or at least that's what probably happened.

"I was dribbling baseline. I really don’t know exactly what happened," she said. "I just know it didn’t feel right. If it did pop out, it did pop back in. I remember turning the ball over, and then I remember it not feeling great and then feeling more sore."

This isn't the first time Griffin's injured the shoulder. She also hurt it working out while in college. She played with a brace then, too.

"I was just doing incline dumbbell bench press and I just had too much weight on it," she said. "So this is nothing new."

Since Anete Jekabsone-Zogota's knee injury, Griffin's been counted on for more, topping 20 minutes in five games after playing that much just twice in the month before Jekabsone-Zogota went down. Griffin's averaging 5.4 points, and brings toughness and an unmatched motor to the Sun's starting lineup. Case in point: She took a charge Saturday AFTER she hurt her shoulder.