Joe Freeman of The Oregonian with some quotes from Portland Trail Blazers forward Nicolas Batum, who continues to complain about a sore right wrist, which bothered him again during a Monday night win over the Minnesota Timberwolves.

"It doesn't always really bother me, but today it was really painful," Batum said after the Blazers beat the Timberwolves. "I was really scared about every contact."

...

Batum feels pain along the right side of his wrist, on the top of his hand near the edge. It aches every time he shoots. So much so that he's attempted seven or fewer shots in four of the past five games. In the second half of the Blazers' win over the Timberwolves, Batum found himself wide open behind the three-point line - without a Minnesota defender anywhere near him - and hesitated for what felt like an eternity before begrudgingly heaving a brick.

"I didn't really want to shoot it," Batum admitted after the game. "And I take those shots alllllll day. Maybe too much sometimes."

...

"I have to fight through it, I have to play through it," Batum said. "Especially with the next two or three games we have coming up. I can't really miss games. I have to keep playing."

An MRI of his wrist last week came back negative.

-- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com | Twitter