LeBron James could be sidelined for ‘weeks’ with groin injury

LeBron James headed to the locker room with a strained left groin in the Los Angeles Lakers’ 111-101 loss to the Boston Celtics on Saturday. Now the 40-year-old superstar could be sidelined for “weeks,” according to ESPN.

James finished with 22 points, 14 rebounds and nine assists before exiting midway through the fourth quarter as the Lakers had their eight-game win streak snapped.

This is not the first time James has dealt with a groin injury. Most notably, he missed 17 straight games after suffering a tear in his left groin on Christmas Day in 2018. James said Saturday night that he does not believe his most recent injury is as bad as that one, per ESPN. 

In his 22nd season, James has shown little signs of slowing down, averaging 25 points, 8.5 assists and 8.2 rebounds per game. Last week, he became the first NBA player to score 50,000 career points, postseason included. 

With James in the locker room, the Lakers cut a 20-point, fourth-quarter deficit to single digits. But Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown scored Boston’s final 12 points to preserve the win.

Luka Doncic had 34 points and eight rebounds in his first game in Boston since he and the Dallas Mavericks lost Game 5 of the NBA Finals as Boston clinched its 18th championship.

The Lakers (40-22) are currently the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference. They will next visit Brooklyn on Monday and will likely be without James that night and in the near future. 

L.A. will play eight games in the next two weeks, with five of those matchups coming against teams that are currently in the playoff picture. That includes a home-and-home against the Denver Nuggets, who lead the Lakers by a half-game in the standings.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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