Sports LeBron James shall be sidelined for no longer lower than a few video games because of the a groin agonize he suffered within the Los Angeles Lakers’ 111-101 loss to the Boston Celtics on Saturday.
The Lakers critical person is anticipated to miss no longer lower than one-to-two weeks because of the the ailment. There would possibly maybe be some hope that James’ absence would possibly maybe additionally unbiased no longer be for for a long way longer than that, as he reportedly didn’t hear a pop sound when the agonize occurred.
James suffered the agonize on a recede transfer whereas scoring a bucket within the fourth quarter of Saturday’s game. He walked gingerly to the huddle all the procedure by procedure of an ensuing timeout after which barely moved sooner than making his components to the locker room with trainers. He carried out with 22 functions, 14 rebounds and nine assists because the Lakers had their eight-game win shuffle snapped.
While James didn’t return to Saturday’s game following the agonize, the 40-year-pale downplayed any worries that he would be out a significant interval of time.
“Not much concern,” James suggested journalists. “Obviously, I’m day-to-day. I’ll look at it each day and see if it gets better, and take the proper measures to see what I need to do moving forward.”
That is no longer the major time James has dealt with a groin agonize. Most significantly, he neglected 17 straight video games after struggling a dawdle in his left groin on Christmas Day in 2018. James acknowledged Saturday evening that he does no longer think his most modern agonize is as severe as that one.
“I’ve been there before, and I know what type of injury we’re dealing with,” James acknowledged.
In his twenty 2d season, James has shown tiny signs of slowing down, averaging 25 functions, 8.5 assists and 8.2 rebounds per game. Final week, he grew to become the major NBA participant to get 50,000 occupation functions, postseason integrated.
With James within the locker room, the Lakers minimize a 20-point, fourth-quarter deficit to single digits. However Jayson Tatum and Brown scored Boston’s last 12 functions to preserve the win.
Luka Dončić had 34 functions and eight rebounds in his first game in Boston since he and the Dallas Mavericks misplaced Sport 5 of the NBA Finals as Boston clinched its 18th championship.
The Lakers (40-22) fell to Third design within the Western Convention standings after Saturday’s loss and face a elaborate upcoming stretch.
L.A. will play eight video games within the subsequent two weeks, with 5 of these matchups coming in opposition to groups which would possibly maybe well be currently within the playoff picture. That entails a dwelling-and-dwelling in opposition to the Denver Nuggets, who lead the Lakers by a half of-game within the standings coming into Sunday.
“It doesn’t matter who’s in the lineup, we have to play our game,” James acknowledged. “We’ve had guys in and out of the lineup the majority of the year. And we’ve had guys in and out of the lineup the last six weeks. … Nothing changes.”
The Lakers will subsequent recede to Brooklyn on Monday and is in overall without James that evening.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
Need gargantuan stories delivered exact to your inbox? Make or log in to your FOX Sports actions yarn , and observe leagues, groups and avid gamers to receive a personalized publication day-to-day!
Safe more from Nationwide Basketball Association Follow your favorites to bag files about video games, news and more
