Lakers report: Larry Nance Jr. returns after concussion

Larry Nance Jr. returned to play Thursday against the Sacramento Kings after missing the Lakers’ loss to the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday.

Nance suffered a concussion when his head hit the court hard near the end of the first quarter of the Lakers’ Sunday win over the Phoenix Suns. Nance went to the Lakers’ bench briefly before returning to the game to shoot two free throws. The players were under orders from Lakers Coach Luke Walton to foul so they could get Nance out, but they didn’t right away.

“They said Larry told them all he was good,” Walton said. “Then when I went to take him out, he tried to argue his case to stay in. But we took him out.”

Nance did some on-court work before the game and then was examined by doctors Thursday evening, about 90 minutes before the game.

Getting some sleep

After most games, the Lakers fly to their next destination right after the game. They changed their schedule for this week’s trip.

The Lakers, who will play the New Orleans Pelicans on Saturday and the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday, won’t fly out until Friday. Once in New Orleans, they’ll practice at the Pelicans’ practice facility.

Walton said the two-hour time difference between Sacramento and New Orleans factored into his decision.

“I feel like it’s a wasted day when you don’t get to the hotel until 4:30 in the morning and try to do anything that day,” Walton said. “We’ll get a good night’s sleep here, fly out, have a practice there to sweat out the jet lag. Be on more of a normal sleep schedule.”

Election thoughts

Tuesday night’s presidential election unfolded while the Lakers were playing. Afterward they caught up on the news of Donald Trump’s win.

Julius Randle, who is 21, voted for the first time.

“I mean, we’re just at a time where we need a great leader, and hopefully he’s that,” Randle said. “Hopefully he brings our country in the right direction, does right by everybody, and just makes it a better place for everybody.”

Late Tuesday night Lakers guard Lou Williams tweeted, “I’m legit worried.” He declined to be interviewed about his views about the election.

Center Tarik Black said he doesn’t worry about election results because of America’s system of checks and balances.

“The way the government’s set up we have three different branches to check and balance each other,” Black said. “The judicial and the legislative, they can check the executive. So that means he just can’t run rampant and do what he wants. He has to go through a checklist of things before he can implement anything.

“So with that being said, and seeing that the Republican Party obviously opposed a lot of things he wanted to do. Has to pass through the House. Has to pass through the Senate. Has to abide by the judiciary system. The president doesn’t have the power to press the red button and bombs go off.”

tania.ganguli@latimes.com

Follow Tania Ganguli on Twitter @taniaganguli