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Nance Could Return Mid-February Monday, Feb. 1 The Lakers announced on Monday that they will shut down forward Larry Nance Jr. until after the All-Star break due to a sore right knee.
The rookie has appeared in 40 games this season, starting 22 of them, and has averaged 5.8 points and 5.0 rebounds per contest.
Nance's knee has been bothering him recently, which alarmed head coach Byron Scott, via Shahan Ahmed of NBCLosAngeles.com:
I think anytime you're dealing with a knee, you have to have some concern. … My thought process is to, ah, you know we have five games before All-Star weekend, shut him down now and he has another week after All-Star week to get it together. So, I'll go in and talk to [Athletic trainer] Gary (Vitti). It's something I discussed with him days ago, about shutting (Nance) down. And I'll go in there and discuss a little bit further and see what he thinks as well.
That would mean Nance could be looking at a possible return on Feb. 19 against the San Antonio Spurs. Scott did say that he would be OK with sitting Nance longer if needed, though.
Drafted 27th overall in 2015 out of Wyoming, Nance's play this year had Scott claiming that the starting power forward job was "an open competition" between him and Julius Randle, who was drafted seventh in 2014, per Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News.
While Randle holds the offensive edge, recording 10.9 points per game, Nance brings a bit more versatility to the position. An extremely athletic forward, the 6'9" rookie can seemingly fly at times and adds a solid presence under the basket on both sides of the floor.
The Fastbreak caught a glimpse of Nance's leaping:
Scott r...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Los Angeles Lakers
