Larry Nance Jr. Suffers Sprained Wrist During Pelicans vs. Lakers

Los Angeles Lakers power forward Larry Nance Jr. suffered a right wrist sprain during Sunday's 105-97 loss to the New Orleans Pelicans, per Baxter Holmes of ESPN.com.

Holmes noted X-rays were negative and said Nance will be re-evaluated Monday.

"I feel fine," Nance said, per Mike Trudell of Spectrum SportsNet.

Nance, 24, has established himself as one of the young building blocks on the Lakers, alongside D'Angelo Russell, Brandon Ingram, Jordan Clarkson and Julius Randle.

While Nance largely comes off the bench behind Randle, averaging 6.7 points and 5.5 rebounds in 22.1 minutes per game entering Sunday, he's a crucial piece for the Lakers. His game has continued to evolve in his two years in the league, and he also provided one of the highlights of the season:

Head coach Luke Walton called Nance the team's most intelligent player in December, according to Tania Ganguli of the Los Angeles Times.

With Nance sidelined, Randle will likely be called upon to play more minutes, while Thomas Robinson should slide into the backup role at power forward. Nance's absence would hurt L.A.'s second unit, however, which has become one of the team's strengths, with Nance, Clarkson and Tarik Black.

In other words, the Lakers may have the players to compensate for Nance's absence, but the chemistry among the second unit will be affected.

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