Without Tyrese Maxey, the Sixers need energy and more from veteran Cameron Payne

CLEVELAND — Cameron Payne has hyped himself up with self-talk during basketball games since he was a young child.

Back then, it was a message that “we ain’t got school today … go out there and have fun.” Today, it is a reminder that the 31-year-old point guard is back in the NBA after beginning this season playing in Serbia.

“Doing what I love to do as a job,” Payne said Monday morning, “that gets me going. That’s really the main thing.”

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Those internal motivational words help Payne tap into his knack for bringing on-court energy, which then can filter out to the rest of his teammates. The Sixers desperately need that at his position without All-Star Tyrese Maxey, who will miss at least one more game after spraining his right little finger in Saturday’s loss at the Atlanta Hawks. Ditto for additional statistical production from Payne, who finished Monday’s 115-101 loss at the Cavaliers at Rocket Arena with 12 points, six rebounds, and four assists — but said he wished he would have shot better than 4 of 12 from the field — in his first start since rejoining the Sixers last month.

“He could have had a big night if [he] would have had it going a little bit earlier,” coach Nick Nurse said. “But he needs to see it go through [the net] a little bit.”

Payne is among the players being forced into larger roles while the Sixers (34-30) are severely shorthanded with 18 games remaining. Max-contract players Joel Embiid (oblique muscle in side) and Paul George (suspension) also remained sidelined Monday, while standout rookie VJ Edgecombe (back) missed his third consecutive game after entering the day listed as questionable to play.

And the Sixers’ latest barrage of injuries comes while attempting to stay afloat in the Eastern Conference standings, with Tuesday’s home game against the tanking Memphis Grizzlies on the second of a back-to-back looming before a Thursday visit to the conference-leading Detroit Pistons. The Sixers entered that Memphis matchup in eighth place, 1½ games behind the sixth-place Orlando Magic and seventh-place Miami Heat. The Sixers also are now only one game ahead of the ninth-place Hawks, who on Saturday finished a 4-0 regular-season sweep.

The Sixers’ depleted backcourt meant recent two-way signee Tyrese Martin got legitimate rotation minutes Monday. The Sixers also will likely need more playmaking from Trendon Watford, who boasts unusual skills from the forward spot, and more scoring punch from Quentin Grimes (17 points Monday) and Kelly Oubre Jr. (six points while dealing with foul trouble). Maxey entered Tuesday with the most total points in the NBA this season (1,767 in 61 games) while shooting 37.3% from three-point range and averaging 6.7 assists, 4.1 rebounds, and a league-leading 38.3 minutes.

This stretch without Maxey also is when the Sixers could have used second-year guard Jared McCain, whom they traded to the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder at the deadline.

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The Cavaliers’ game operations crew inadvertently offered a glaring reminder of that fact, when it mistakenly put McCain’s Sixers headshot on the video board above Payne’s name during starting lineup introductions (Payne took McCain’s former No. 20 when he signed after McCain departed). After the defeat, multiple Sixers players watched a portion of the fourth quarter of the Thunder-Nuggets game in the locker room, with Edgecombe excitedly saying, “Mac in the clutch!” when McCain hit a key three-pointer.

On the surface, a finger sprain for Maxey is a better outcome than his injury initially appeared when he walked off the court visibly woozy and in pain. Nurse said before Monday’s game that the next step is for Maxey to visit at least one hand specialist before determining a treatment plan. Maxey was wearing a splint on the finger postgame but still could hold objects such as a locker room chair with that hand.

Still, this is the same little finger that Maxey sprained last season. It dramatically hindered his perimeter shooting — including an ugly 0-for-10 mark from beyond the arc in a late-February loss to the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden — while he tried to play through the ailment. When he reinjured the finger while attempting to ramp back up to play last March, the Sixers shut him down to close the team’s disastrous 2024-25 season.

While Nurse said Monday that Maxey remains in good spirits, the coach acknowledged the repeat injury “obviously adds to the concern factor, for sure.”

Payne, meanwhile, has been through a whirlwind since returning stateside.

His body and mind needed to adjust to the correct time zone. Even the game day routine is different, he said. While tipoff times in Serbia typically are 8 p.m. or later, players do not arrive at the arena as early as for NBA games.

“Making sure my energy stays high for the full 48 minutes of the game,” Payne recently said of the adjustment. “Because that’s my niche, so I’ve got to make sure I stay active that way.”

On the court, Payne initially needed to acclimate to shorter rotation bursts, during which point guard precision and getting “straight to it” as a bucket-getter are critical. The Sixers also had changed some schemes and play calls — and turned over the bulk of the roster — since he was last here in 2024.

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Payne aimed to establish quick chemistry with teammates such as second-year big man Adem Bona, throwing him lobs and getting repetitions in pick-and-roll actions. Less than two weeks ago, Payne said he wanted to get into the paint more on drives to create scoring opportunities for himself and teammates.

He helped orchestrate some solid second-unit minutes in Saturday’s first half in Atlanta, tallying five of his six assists before the break. But entering Monday, Payne had shot 28.3% from the floor — including 6-of-32 from three-point range — while averaging 3.6 points and 2.2 assists in 13.6 minutes in nine games.

Payne spoke before Monday’s shootaround about needing to put Oubre in position to drive with his preferred left hand. Payne liked the cohesion he was building with Grimes, keeping plays for him “in my back pocket.”

Early in Monday’s game, Payne grabbed a rebound and pushed the ball in transition before dishing to Dominick Barlow, who drew a foul. But Payne started 1-of-6 from the floor before a flurry late in the second quarter in which he converted a fastbreak layup and a pull-up three-pointer, then drew a foul and hit both free throws to cut Cleveland’s lead to 12 points at the break.

“It felt good to see something roll through,” Payne said. “I just need to be more efficient.”

The undermanned Sixers ran out of steam in the second half of a lopsided loss to the Cavaliers, who have ascended to fourth place in the standings. Still, Grimes said the Sixers trust Payne’s NBA experience, that he “knows what it’s supposed to look like as a player in this league” while on recent deep playoff runs with the Phoenix Suns and Knicks.

Payne also has felt empowered by Maxey and veteran Kyle Lowry, who has encouraged him to “just be yourself, kick the energy off, pick up full court, little things like that.”

That all aligns with Payne’s motivational self-talk. And for however long Maxey and Edgecombe are sidelined, the Sixers will desperately need Payne’s energy — and an uptick in his production.

“I wish I would have played better,” Payne said after Monday’s loss. “I wish I would have shot better.”