CLEVELAND — The Philadelphia 76ers have a number of important players sidelined as they look to make a climb out of the play-in tournament. With stars Joel Embiid, Paul George, and Tyrese Maxey currently sidelined, they will need others to step up in their place.
One of those players who will need to find an offensive rhythm is veteran guard Cam Payne. It has been a bit of a struggle for the 11-year guard out of Murray State as he has shot just 29.3% from the floor and 20.5% from deep in 10 games since the Sixers brought him back from playing overseas.
After scoring 12 points on 4-for-12 shooting and 2-for-7 from deep in Monday’s loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers, coach Nick Nurse is hoping the Sixers can coax some more out of him.
“I just think he played good,” Nurse said after the loss. “He finally got his kind of shot-making going there, right? It was a really dry spell for him with open looks to start, right? I kind of looked up and it was like, I don’t know, 16-all or something. I was like, ‘Man, we should have, like, 28 right now or something.’ We were probably playing good enough D and rebounding good enough and generating good enough shots, but we just didn’t.”
Payne had an overall tough night, but the four field goals he made tie the most he’s had since returning to the Sixers. These are the baby steps Payne will need to lean on. Nurse and his staff will continue to urge him to take the open looks he’s receiving within the offense and one has to believe he will catch a rhythm soon.
“At least he kind of made a nice little flurry, I think, it was at the end of the first half with a layup and a 3,” Nurse added. “So, it’s good to see. You know, 12 points. It’s good. He could have had a big night if he would have had it going a little bit earlier, but he needs to see it go through a little bit.”
With that being said, Payne knows he needs to be more efficient. It has been a struggle for him thus far, but the Sixers will continue to look to him to get going on offense amid everybody sidelined at the moment.
“For sure,” he stated. “When I finally got that layup in, like, at the end of the second quarter, it felt good to see something go through. I just need to be more efficient.”
