Cleveland Cavaliers big man Larry Nance Jr. suffered a knee injury in Tuesday night’s 123-115 loss to the Indiana Pacers. The Akron native gingerly made his way to the Cavs locker room for evaluation after sustaining the injury and did not return to the game.
According to a report from Joe Vardon of The Athletic, Nance — who was held out of Wednesday game against the Pelicans due to his ailment — underwent an MRI scan on Thursday morning. The results of which are still pending.
Though his injury doesn’t seem to be severe, there is no official timetable for Nance’s return to the court. The Cavs, who have dealt with a plethora of injuries this season, will likely be cautious in bringing him back into the fold.
As it stands now, he’s listed as day-to-day.
Without a doubt, Cleveland needs the dynamic skillset Nance brings to the Cavs. In 39 games this season (17 starts), the former 27th overall pick has racked up averages of 8.8 points on 52.9 percent shooting from the field (33.3 percent from beyond the arc), 7.5 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.5 steals in 25.6 minutes per outing, playing the part of a unique two-way playmaker for Cleveland’s frontcourt.
The Cavs are scheduled to face James Harden and the Houston Rockets on the road Friday night and there’s a solid chance that Nance will miss the game. If Nance is unable to play, veteran centers Channing Frye — who started for Cleveland against the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday — and Tristan Thompson will likely see upticks in their usage rates.
In other Cavs-related injury news, shooting guard Rodney Hood (achilles strain) and David Nwaba (ankle sprain) are still dealing with their own ailments. Last week Cavs head coach Larry Drew said that Thompson and Hood were “neck and neck” in their recovery timelines (per cleveland.com‘s Chris Fedor), so the fifth-year guard should be making his return to the court soon. Nwaba is roughly one week away from recovery, according to Marla Ridenour of the Akron Beacon Journal.
Cavs All-Star power forward Kevin Love, who’s been out of commission for all but four games this season due to a big toe injury, recently said he might not be able to return until after the All-Star break.
Friday night’s Cavs-Rockets game is scheduled to tip inside the Toyota Center at 8:00 p.m. ET with FOX Sports Ohio having live broadcast coverage.
