Lakers News: Latest on D'Angelo Russell, Larry Nance Jr. Injuries and More

The Los Angeles Lakers have been one of the NBA's more pleasant surprises in the early part of the 2016-17 season. Head coach Luke Walton has the team playing a fast-paced, pass-happy brand of basketball, and the young squad has taken to it with aplomb. 

Early-season upsets of the Golden State Warriors and Chicago Bulls, among several others, have hinted at a bright future for the baby Lakers, but recently the team has hit its first real significant impasse of the season. The Lakers have lost their last three games and six of their last eight to fall to 10-13 on the year, with injuries one of the major culprits of this slowdown. 

D'Angelo Russell, Nick Young, Larry Nance Jr. and Jose Calderon have all missed significant time of late. Their recoveries are ongoing, but the Lakers still won't be nearly at full strength when they play the Houston Rockets on Wednesday.

According to the Lakers' official twitter account, Russell is ready to get back to on-court work but won't be traveling to play the Rockets. 

Reserve center/forward Tarik Black also won't be making the trip, per the team's Twitter account, due to an ankle sprain suffered in Monday's 107-101 loss to the Utah Jazz. Second-year forward Nance was back in practice on Tuesday, according to the team:

Any injury to the Lakers is capable of drastically shaking up Walton's rotation, which routinely gives nine or 10 Lakers around 20 minutes of playing time a night. Black might be an afterthought on many other rosters, but he's played at least 20 minutes in three of his last six games and boasts averages of 13.7 points and 12.2 rebounds per 36 minutes, per Basketball-Reference.com.

His productivity and rebounding ability will be sorely missed against the Rockets, who like to chuck three-pointers at an astronomical rate. Someone has to be there to grab the ones that clank off the rim, and Black's absence puts more pressure on the likes of Julius Randle, Thomas Robinson and Timofey Mozgov.

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If Nance, who has missed the Lakers' last two games, can play against Houston, that will be a major boost to the Lakers frontcourt. Though he's not the team's most impactful player, Nance had flared up for a pair of double-doubles in late November, showing his ability to provide a charge to the team when needed.

His athleticism and vigor are useful assets on a team that still struggles on the defensive end, allowing 108.4 points per 100 possessions, per ESPN.com.

Russell, who is averaging 16.1 points and 4.8 assists per game this season, hasn't played since a Nov. 20 loss to the Bulls. The Lakers have missed his silky playmaking ability and improved three-point shot (37.2 percent). 

The return to on-court work is a welcome development for Russell, but when exactly he gets back in an actual game remains uncertain. The Los Angeles Times' Tania Ganguli reported that Monday could be a target date: 

The loss of Russell at starting point guard has led to some unique lineup experiments from Walton. Keen to keep Jordan Clarkson and Lou Williams firing from off the bench, Walton started rookie swingman Brandon Ingram at point guard against the Jazz. 

Ingram finished with just four points on 1-of-6 shooting from the field and two assists in 25 minutes of play. The rookie himself has noted the injuries have stacked the deck against this team.

“We don’t make excuses,” Ingram said, per the Orange County Register's Mark Whicker. “But when you have this many injuries it can take its toll.”

Mark J. Terrill/Associated Press

As a second-year player and one of the key building blocks of the post-Kobe Bryant Lakers, Russell can't afford to miss much time on the court. Walton has shown a willingness to let his young players learn by playing in the big moments.

For a player who likes to claim he has ice in his veins, the more opportunities to show off he's immune to pressure the better it is for this exciting, growing team. 

The Lakers will be hard-pressed to come up with a win against the Rockets, who are 14-7 and boast an MVP candidate in James Harden.

A fourth straight loss would make it the Lakers' longest such streak of the young season, putting pressure on Walton and the youth contingent to step up and deal with the kind of demoralization and adversity that many expected them to encounter from the get-go.