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

LeBron James headed to the locker room with a strained 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 Los Angeles win streak.

In his 22nd season, James had shown little signs of slowing down. He entered Saturday night averaging 25.1 points, 8.5 assists and 8.1 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 standings. They will next visit Brooklyn on Monday and will likely be without James that night and in the near future.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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