Cam Reddish sinks dagger for Lakers to beat Suns, just like LeBron James predicted

Los Angeles Lakers leader LeBron Jamessurvived an injury scare in the first quarter to eventually assist Cam Reddish for a wide open triple that iced the game against the Phoenix Suns with just over a minute left to play in the NBA In-Season Tournament clash on Friday at Footprint Center.

Reddish, 24, had just missed the potential game-winner against the Miami Heat earlier this week and James knew the situation would arise again in the near future. He told the Lakers newcomer to "be ready again" whenever it happened.

James, 38, received his fair share of criticism in that one-point loss to the Heat for ing the ball to a wide open Reddish instead of attempting the basket himself (with three players on him) in the game's final play.

The four-time NBA champion clearly did not listen to the critics because he once again found Reddish in the same corner.

In fact, Reddish missed the first chance from deep on the play, but Lakers recovered the offensive rebound and James once again found the young forward. This time, however, the 3-point shot would go in to put the Lakers up by five points.

Cam Reddish gets the start, LeBron James claps back

Reddish shot 5-for-8 from deep and scored 17 points in 28 minutes as a starter over Austin Reaves, who tallied 15 points and dished out seven assists in 35 minutes off the bench.

James said during his postgame interview that he wasn't surprised by Reddish's performance and clapped back at "naysayers" who questioned him after the Miami loss.

"To all the naysayers and basketball savantes that don't know nothing about basketball, telling me I should have shot that shot in Miami instead of ing to Cam Reddish, well, I did the same thing tonight because I trust my teammates and I make the right play every single time," James said.

James finished the contest with a team-high 32 points, while Anthony Davis added 18. They both racked up 11 rebounds. D'Angelo Russell was the only other Laker in double-digit scoring, putting up 19 points.

Suns still haven't played their Big 3

Bradley Beal played his second straight game this season after missing the first few matches and scored a quiet 24 points. Kevin Durant led all scorers with 38 points.

Devin Booker was out with a lingering injury, meaning Suns head coach Frank Vogel has yet to play his three stars at the same time, which could end Sunday when they host the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Another interesting story from the night was how Japanes players Rui Hachimura and Yuta Watanabe went face-to-face coming off the bench for their respective teams.

Hachimura scored seven points, four more than Watanabe, and will look to improve on Sunday when the Lakers host the Portland Trail Blazers.