The Los Angeles Lakers will spend some time without LeBron James.
On Saturday night, the Lakers snapped their eight-game winning streak with a 111-101 loss to the Boston Celtics. Making matters worse, James exited the game with a left groin strain during the fourth quarter.
According to ESPN’s Shams Charania, James is expected to miss at least one to two weeks. After the injury calms down, the Lakers plan to reevaluate the NBA’s all-time leading scorer over the next 24 hours.
James has continued to play at an elite level in his 22nd season. The 40-year-old has registered 25.0 points, 8.5 assists, and 8.0 rebounds per game with a 51.7 field-goal percentage. He’s averaged 28.4 points over his last 14 games and finished one assist short of a triple-double on Saturday.
Even as the league’s oldest player, LeBron has led the Lakers with 34.9 minutes per game. He’s only missed four games for the 40-22 Lakers, who dropped to third in the Western Conference standings after Saturday’s loss.
After the game, James said there’s “not much concern” for a groin injury that he’ll take a “day to day” approach to treating.
This isn’t James’s first groin injury. He missed 17 games after tearing his groin on Christmas in 2018, but he thinks his current ailment is less severe.
“I’ve been there before, and I know what type of injury you’re dealing with,” James said after the game, per ESPN’s Dave McMenamin.
Even if it’s a short-term issue, LeBron’s absence comes at an inopportune time. Over the next two weeks, the Lakers play two games against the Denver Nuggets that could determine who lands the West’s No. 2 seed. They also face the Milwaukee Bucks twice.
Los Angeles will turn to recent acquisition Luka Doncic to steer the offense in LeBron’s absence. Last season’s scoring leader has averaged 24.7 points, 8.1 rebounds, and 7.6 assists in 11 games (eight wins) since getting traded from the Dallas Mavericks last month.