Luka Doncic Reacts to LeBron James' Injury After Lakers' Loss to Celtics to End Streak

Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James suffered a groin strain during Saturday's 111-101 loss to the Boston Celtics, which ended their eight-game winning streak.

James was hurt midway through the fourth quarter of the loss, and he did not return for the remainder of the game.

He called for a timeout, which he spent "trying to loosen up what appeared to be his left groin muscle" before heading to the locker room, per Dan Woike of the Los Angeles Times.

The Lakers diagnosed the injury as a groin strain and announced James would not return to the game.

James said there is "not much concern" on his part regarding the injury, but his teammate, Luka Dončić, stressed the importance of LeBron taking the time needed to get fully healthy, saying: "Obviously, to get injured at this time, those [groin] injuries are—I don't want to say the worst, but they are tough to deal with. So just take his time. And we got to have as a team a next-man-up mentality."

Lakers head coach JJ Redick said immediately after the game there was "obvious concern" with the injury:

James has previously missed significant time due to groin injuries, including a 27-game stretch of the 2018-19 season.

He had been largely healthy so far in the 2024-25 season, having played in 58 of the Lakers' 62 games prior to his exit from Saturday's loss.

Heading into Saturday, James had remained dominant in his age-40 season by averaging 25.1 points, 8.1 rebounds and 8.5 assists per game.

He contributed 22 points, 14 rebounds and nine assists in 35 minutes prior to his Saturday night injury.

The Lakers' depth has already been tested by knee injuries to Rui Hachimura and Jaxson Hayes, who were both sidelined during Saturday's contest.

Regaining frontcourt depth by bringing back Hachimura and Hayes, as well as reuniting the star duo of James and Luka Dončić, will be key to the Lakers' hopes of making a deep playoff run this spring.