Larry Nance Jr. recently suffered an injury to his hand and there appears to be a timetable for his return to the Cleveland Cavaliers. According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Nance is expected to miss four-to-six weeks with a fractured finger.
The Cavs followed that up by announcing that Nance is expected to be sidelined for six weeks.
Nance sustained the injury to his finger in the second half of Saturday’s contest against the Milwaukee Bucks. The timing of Nance’s finger ailment is unfortunate considering he made his return from a sprained wrist on Saturday.
As a result of his fractured finger, Nance is expected to miss at least a month of action for the Cavs. The veteran forward is expected to undergo surgery soon, which would begin his rehab process for his finger.
Before exiting Saturday’s game, Nance was seeing an expanded role for the Cavaliers due to the absence of Kevin Love. Love is dealing with a calf injury of his own this season that has limited him to only two games.
As for Nance, he’s averaged a career-high 33.4 minutes per game amid Love’s recovery from a nagging calf ailment. At the same time, he is contributing 9.3 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 3.2 assists per game in 18 games this season.
What has been a bright spot for Cleveland is Nance’s improved outside shooting, where he is shooting a career-best 38.1 percent. But with Nance slated to be sidelined for at least a month, the Cavaliers will need contributions from other members of their roster.
With Nance hampered by an injury, Cleveland will likely lean on Cedi Osman, Andre Drummond, and Jarrett Allen more in their frontcourt moving forward.