The Los Angeles Lakers dropped their seventh straight game on Sunday night as they fell to the New Orleans Pelicans by a final score of 105-97. Unfortunately for the Lakers they may have suffered another loss on the injury front as well.
In trying to block a shot by DeMarcus Cousins, Larry Nance Jr. got tangled up and fell down hard on his hand and wrist. According to Lakers Nation reporter Serena Winters, Nance suffered a sprained wrist and will be re-evaluated on Monday:
Lakers say Larry Nance Jr. has a right wrist sprain. X-rays came back negative, he'll be reevaluated tomorrow.
— Serena Winters (@SerenaWinters) March 6, 2017
The good news is that there are no breaks of fractures for Nance. Hopefully this is simply a sprain and not too serious for Nance who has dealt with injuries throughout his short career. He missed 16 games earlier this season with a bone bruise in his knee and dealt with knee issues last season as well.
The Lakers certainly can’t afford Nance to go out as he is arguably the best defensive player on the team. Additionally, rookie center Ivica Zubac missed Sunday’s game with a quad injury so losing both Nance and Zubac would really hurt the Lakers’ bench unit.
Nance won’t have long to rest up and get better as the Lakers head to Dallas to take on a Mavericks team that has dominated them this season, on Tuesday. For the season, Nance is averaging 6.7 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 1.2 steals in 22.1 minutes per game.
