The Los Angeles Lakers continue on their upward trend having just beaten the Sacramento Kings 132-122 on Saturday night. Even more impressive, the Lakers were without their team leader, star forward LeBron James.

James missed his third matchup of the season due to an illness. James’ first two missed games were due to a foot injury, and since his return, the Lakers have won five of their last six games. The Lakers are now 18-13 and moved up a spot in the Western Conference to sit in a solid 5th place.

Gabe Vincent took the starting role James’ place, but only played seven scoreless minutes before being ruled out with an oblique injury.

With players like Vincent going down, and critical players like Anthony Davis, Christian Wood, and Jaxson Hayes missing time on the floor resulting from injury, fans have a growing concern about a possible return from James.

The 39-year-old phenom continues playing at an extremely high level, averaging 23.5 points, 7.9 rebounds, and 9.0 assists per game. In his last performance in the NBA Christmas Day matchup, James competed in another iconic Christmas showdown, and led his team to a victory scoring 31 points and dishing out 10 assists.

Although fans may start feeling a bit concerned about James’ illness, head coach J.J. Redick , seemingly putting any concerns to rest.

“No concern, he’s just a little bit under the weather,” Redick told the media following Friday’s practice.

James was missing from Friday’s practice, and he was listed as questionable on the injury report ahead of Saturday’s matchup before officially being ruled out.

Austin Reaves, who’s been having a career’s best season this year, spoke on playing without their team leader.

”It’s really just playing the game the right way, trusting the offense, the system we have,” Reaves told the media following the matchup. “It’s never fun to not have Bron. He creates so much chaos and security for us, but it’s just a collective group. Everybody knows they have to step up and do something to for us to be successful.”

Both Davis and Reaves stepped up massively in James’ absence to complete a four game sweep in the Kings series this season. Davis finished with an impressive 36 points and 15 rebounds while Reaves contributed 26 points and a career best 16 assists. The Lakers were fortunate to have Davis return back from his injury that occurred on Christmas Day.