Los Angeles Lakers: Larry Nance Jr. to return as a starter

The Los Angeles Lakers will be playing the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday night. In the game, the Lakers are expected to have Larry Nance Jr. back.

After what was a rapid recovery, the Los Angeles Lakers are expecting to have Larry Nance Jr. back in the lineup against the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday night. Nance was originally expected to miss 4-6 weeks with a fractured bone in his hand. However, he is good to go, and that timetable has been thrown out the window.

In Nance’s absence, the Lakers have been using rookie Kyle Kuzma as the starting power forward. In the starting lineup, Kuzma has shined for the Lakers, as his rookie season is going extremely well so far.

Prior to the injury, it was Nance who was the starting power forward for the Lakers. Now, head coach Luke Walton has a very difficult decision to make for his lineup. However, it appears like he will be using Nance as the starting power forward, which means Kuzma with be headed back to the bench.

This is somewhat of a surprising move made by Walton, as Kuzma was really playing well as a starter. In the NBA, mixing with lineups is a very tricky matter, but it looked like the Lakers’ starting five was better with Kuzma in it, especially on the offensive end.

While Nance does bring a lot back for the Lakers in terms of defense, rebounding, and hustle, he isn’t close to the scorer that Kuzma is. Also, floor spacing with Kuzma and Lopez on the floor was exceptional, with both being able to extend to the three-point line. These open lanes certainly helped Brandon Ingram become a more aggressive driver to the basket in recent weeks.

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With it appearing that Kuzma is headed back to the bench, the Lakers will not be short of firepower from their second unit. While starting games is important, it is really important to see who finishes then. In all likelihood, Kuzma will likely be out there when the game is on the line.