He leaped to the basket with amazing athleticism. He grabbed rebounds with unyielding aggressiveness. He logged in a performance that personifies his consistency both with his energy and mid-range shooting.
Yet, Lakers rookie forward logged eight points on 4-of-7 shooting and a career-high 14 rebounds amid different circumstances in the Lakers’ 93-84 win over the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday at Staples Center. Nance Jr. performed these various feats despite nursing what Lakers coach Byron Scott called a “tender” right ankle.
“The ankle is all good. I’ll be fine,” Nance Jr said. “I was flying around tonight. Adrenaline is a powerful thing.”
Nance worked with the Lakers’ training staff to tinker various taping mechanisms for his ankle that he described as “a little bit sore.” But Nance Jr’s best antibiotic involved his own pain threshold.
That latest development marked many reasons why Scott has started Nance Jr. in the past 14 games.
“He went after everything,” Scott said. “His athleticism allowed him to do that. I just think his aggressiveness as far as going after every rebound was great.”
Nance Jr. downplayed starting during that time.
He praised Julius Randle’s effort that included 15 points on 6-of-10 shooting and nine rebounds. Nance Jr. called their dynamic as a “power forward by committee.” Nance Jr. also suggested he has not really taken any personal satisfaction in starting, knowing it has come at the expense of the Lakers’ seventh overall pick of the 2014 NBA draft getting demoted.
“Our record isn’t what we had in mind going into the year. So there had to be some kind of change made,” Nance Jr. said. “But he knows and everybody knows. If he goes out there and drops 40, I’ll be the first guy off the bench for him. If Lou [Williams] goes in and drops 40, I’ll be the first guy off the bench for him. I just want everybody to do well. The dynamic is as such. We want each other to do very well.”
Nance Jr. has done well for different reasons. He has played as if he’s the Energizer bunny. He has made about 200 to 300 jumpers a day since the season started. Scott argues Nance Jr. has excelled defensively because the Lakers’ 27th overall pick played for four years at the University of Wyoming.
“If you’re in four years of college like I was, you get to learn the fundamentals of that and learn to apply it physically,” said Nance Jr., who credited Cowboys coach Larry Shyatt for helping him. “Sometimes they don’t have time to teach these guys, ‘On this rotation, you have to do this, drop down and watch for the screen.’ With little things like that, that’s where the experience comes into play. These guys are bigger, faster and stronger. Learning where to rotate on some of the best athletes in the world is not an easy job.”
Neither is playing with an injured ankle. But Nance Jr. still found a way.
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