Zaza Pachulia talked about his left should injury for the first time after Sunday’s practice.

Pachulia said he felt “a stretch” in his shoulder during a game against Miami on Dec. 3. He missed the following game against New Orleans on Dec. 4, but then returned prematurely against Charlotte against on Dec. 6.

The center said after the team practiced on Dec. 5, he erroneously thought the injury was behind him.

“I went through a normal practice, and thought everything was fine,” Pachulia said. “I thought it was back to normal. Unfortunately, against Charlotte, right in the first possession, I felt a stretch again. It’s the left muscle. That’s why I left the game.”

Pachulia has missed the team’s last three games because of the injury, and he’s also going to miss Monday’s game against the Lakers in Los Angeles.

He participated in Sunday’s practice, a no-contact day. But he said after Saturday’s practice, which included contact, he was in pain.

“It was very fatigued, very tight [yesterday], but this morning kind of felt back to normal, that’s a good sign,” Pachulia said.

Pachulia said the injury especially gets aggravated when he’s banging down low with other bigs.

“It’s not about the shooting, especially when you’re down low, its a really physical game,” Pachulia said.

Pachulia said that it’s been frustrating being sidelined, but he’s keeping things in perspective.

“It’s getting better, that’s all i can say,” he said. “But it’s not 100 percent, obviously. There’s not point to rush coming back.”