After losing to the Los Angeles Clippers on Christmas Day, the Los Angeles Lakers are suddenly on a four-game losing streak.
Even worse, LeBron James is dealing with another groin injury that could force him to miss some games, according to Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com.
“I felt healthy going into the game,” James said after the game. “I got kneed in the groin taking a charge from Pat Bev (Patrick Beverly) and it kind of set me right back to where I was five days ago.”
Of course, exactly a year ago, James suffered a partial tear of his groin that caused him to miss 17 straight games and effectively derailed the Lakers’ season.
Fortunately, it seems like this groin injury isn’t as bad as that one.
“The injury that James is currently dealing with is on the right side of his groin and is far less dire than the injury he sustained to the left side of his groin last season, but it could worsen with overuse,” McMenamin wrote.
James missed the Lakers’ previous contest on Sunday with both this groin issue and a pulled thoracic muscle.
L.A. will face the surging Portland Trail Blazers in Oregon on Saturday, then come home to play the Dallas Mavericks the next night.
After that, the Lakers’ schedule will get easier. Their following four games will be at home and against teams with records that are below .500.
Despite their recent skid, the Lakers are still in first place in the Western Conference.
