LeBron James Stats Tonight: How did Lakers star fare against defending champions Boston Celtics

For the second time this season, LeBron James went to battle with the LA Lakers in a showdown against the Boston Celtics. On Jan. 23, the Lakers blew out the defending champions 117-96 inside Crypto.com Arena. While the purple and gold squad wielded the might of Anthony Davis that night, James is now playing alongside Luka Doncic, who was acquired in a blockbuster deal prior to the trade deadline.

Against the Celtics inside TD Garden on Saturday, James started out with a couple of assists that found Dorian Finney-Smith and Jarred Vanderbilt. Eventually, The King got his scoring going as well, making perimeter shots and inside baskets alike. At halftime, James had 14 points (7-for-13 from the field, 0-for-3 from deep), eight rebounds, and seven assists. The Lakers, however, trailed the Celtics 58-54.

In the second half, LBJ's scoring slowed down as he mustered just eight more points to add to his total. James' struggles from beyond the arc continued, as the three outside shots he attempted in the final 24 minutes all resulted in misses. To the credit of the 40-year-old star, his overall shooting clip from the field was efficient and he committed just one turnover the whole game.

In the end, though, James' near triple-double and Doncic's 34-point performance weren't enough to tow the Lakers past the Celtics, who were fuelled by Jayson Tatum's 40-piece and Jaylen Brown's 31 points. The Lakers came out on the wrong end of a 111-101 outcome, and James finished with 22 points (11-for-23 shooting), 14 rebounds, and nine assists.

LeBron James exits Lakers-Celtics game due to groin injury

Midway through the fourth quarter of the Lakers-Celtics showdown, James bumped his scoring tally to 22 off a layup over Brown. Shortly afterwards, with the ball in the Lakers' possession, James signaled to the bench that he needed to be taken out.

James ended up going to the locker room, and he would not return to the floor for the remainder of the game. The team later announced that James had sustained a left groin injury.

Though sources vary on the timetable for James' return, NBA insider Dave McMenamin claims that the Lakers star could be out for an extended period of time.

"It is too early to project an accurate timetable for how long LeBron James could miss because of his left groin injury, sources told ESPN. However one source said the initial thought is that it will sideline James for a matter of weeks, not a matter of days," McMenamin tweeted after the game.

James' injury comes at an inopportune time for the Lakers, who are trying to hold on to the no. 2 spot in the Western Conference as they head into the final 20 games of their regular season — a tough schedule that includes four back-to-backs.