LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers were beaten 111-101 on Saturday night by the Boston Celtics in the TD Garden. James contributed 22 points, 14 rebounds, and nine assists in 35 minutes before exiting late due to a groin strain.
While James dismissed the immediate severity of his injury, ESPN's Dave McMenamin reported, "It's going to be a period of weeks that he's expected to be out, not days."
Although Boston's victory on Saturday over LA ended an eight-game winning streak, the Lakers have a record of 20-5 over their last 25 games, which puts them in a three-way tie for the best NBA record in that span with the top seed in both conferences, the Oklahoma City Thunder and Cleveland Cavaliers (via StatMuse).
In the locker room Saturday night after the loss, James had an encouraging statement for his squad moving forward.
When asked if the Lakers could compete with the Celtics if they were to meet in the NBA Finals, James responded, "We can compete versus anyone in this league."
LeBron was asked if he thinks his Lakers can compete with the Celtics if they see them again in the NBA Finals:
"We can compete versus anyone in this league…"
"We're not where they are, that's the defending champion, and they've been playing basketball together for a long… pic.twitter.com/HovT01WgJp
— Tom Carroll (@yaboiTCfresh) March 9, 2025
While James believes this, he also admitted LA is not on Boston's level right now.
"We're not where [the Celtics] are, that's the defending champion, and they've been playing basketball together for a long time," James said. "They got a great chemistry and know what they wanna do. We made an acquisition late in the season that we're still trying to build."
With James out for the near future, the Lakers will look to their newest superstar Luka Doncic to provide the offensive spark. In his last five games entering Monday, the five-time All-Star averaged 31.2 points and 8.8 assists.
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This story was originally published March 10, 2025 at 6:12 PM.