Lakers' Nance Jr. suffers fractured right hand
Los Angeles Lakers forward Larry Nance Jr. was diagnosed with a fractured right hand Thursday after taking a hard fall during a summer league game against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Nance suffered the injury after landing awkwardly on a shot attempt late in the fourth quarter, and was quickly rushed to the trainer's room for X-rays. Preliminary results showed a fracture to the base of Nance's third metacarpal in his right hand, according to Mike Trudell of Time Warner Cable SportsNet.
The Lakers are expected to provide an update Friday, when the second-year forward visits a hand specialist in Los Angeles for further evaluation.
Earlier in the week, Nance drew "M-V-P" chants for his performance during the summer-league showdown between top picks Ben Simmons and Brandon Ingram. The Lakers' 2015 first-round pick scored 13 points with eight rebounds, seven steals, four assists, four blocks, and a pair of highlight-reel dunks.
"He's a winning piece on a winning team," said teammate D'Angelo Russell. "Every team needs a guy like Larry. He's always positive. He's one of the most positive guys I know. He's always positive. I don't know. He's just a great guy off the court and then on the court, he's a dog."
In 63 games last season, Nance averaged 5.5 points on 53 percent shooting in 20.1 minutes.