LeBron James Injury: Updates on Cavaliers Star's Back and Return

LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers have been on a roll as of late, with no win bigger than Thursday's decisive victory over Golden State. However, the MVP candidate was forced to miss Friday's game against the Indiana Pacers with a sore back, per Bleacher Report's Ethan Skolnick.

Thankfully, James returned to the starting lineup Sunday against the Houston Rockets, the team announced.

Despite being just 30 years old, James is physically older than that because of how young he was when his career started and all the minutes he's piled up.

That's not to say King James is a relic, as he's averaging 26 points, 7.3 assists and 5.8 rebounds per game. Any player in the league would be thrilled to put up a stat line that productive in his 12th season.

The most impressive thing about this iteration of the Cavaliers is how much better the team is when James is facilitating rather than scoring, as this number from ESPN Stats & Info on Feb. 3 showed:

Cleveland has run hot and cold so often this season that one change, even a small injury concern, feels like it could rock the boat again. James' presence is obviously essential to what the Cavaliers want to do, but more than that, his leadership has paid dividends throughout the year.