Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James is expected to miss at least one to two weeks with a groin strain, ESPN reported on Sunday.

James, the NBA's all-time leading scorer, exited the Lakers' loss to the Boston Celtics on Saturday in the fourth quarter.

ESPN, citing unnamed sources, reported he will wait for the injury to "calm down" before having it evaluated further and in the meantime the Lakers "are braced to be without him for a period of time and will be cautious as they hold the third seed in the Western Conference."

James had downplayed the injury immediately after the game, saying there was "not much concern."

He said it didn't seem as serious as the groin injury he suffered that caused him to miss 17 games in the 2018-19 season.

The injury to the Lakers' 40-year-old lynchpin comes as the team are surging toward the playoffs.

The loss to Boston snapped an eight-game winning streak that had carried them briefly to second place in the Western Conference, led by the Oklahoma City Thunder. They are now in third, half a game behind the Denver Nuggets.

They play seven games in 11 days starting on Monday, including two games against Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets and two against Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks.

James, who on Tuesday became the first player to score 50,000 career points in the regular season and playoffs combined, is averaging 25 points 8.5 assists and 8.2 rebounds this season.