Cam Payne Energized Suns in Return to Action
The Phoenix Suns returned from their All-Star break hiatus with a victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday night.
The win signified a handful of things: Phoenix emerged to 33-28 on the season, good enough to currently hold the No. 4 seed in the West. They've also won their last six-of-eight games.
Devin Booker passed Steve Nash for the franchise's all-time three-point field goals made with 1,052 three's, a notable achievement that will properly be recognized at some point in the future.
Friday also marked the return of Cam Payne, who hadn't played since Jan. 4 due to a foot injury.
Payne is known as the second unit's floor general, helping run the offense when Chris Paul needs a break. He's also a spark plug for everybody on the team, playing the "energizer bunny" role quite well.
“Very important. They do the thing before the game where they crank him up and put the battery pack in his back and he gets them going and so that energy is second to none. We need that. That’s the spark that we need, that’s the role that he plays and he did an incredible job tonight with it," said Devin Booker following the win,
In his first taste of action in over a month, Payne said it took him about 14 minutes into game action before he felt the lack of conditioning start to impact him.
“When I was at about 14 minutes, I was feeling that wind, especially when we was making runs. I gotta find my wind back. We was going back and forth, them making shots, them talking crazy, getting excited. There was a lot of energy. That is me. I will figure it out. Book (Devin Booker) just took my battery pack to go recharge it so I have that energy in Milwaukee," Payne said.
Monty Williams agreed:
Payne was able to add 14 points and four rebounds in the win over OKC.
With 21 games left in the regular season, he'll do his best to settle back into his role after being out for so long.
“I am telling you all I was tired of just watching the games. Since I have been with the Suns team, I have been playing. It is kind of hard to watch. Then the things that I bring to the game, aren’t in the game. I feel like I am hurting my team not being out there. Just watching, I learned some things. Now that I am back, all that stuff is whatever. We back, we got a new team. Just trying to figure it out.”
Down the stretch, the Suns will obviously need Payne to hold his end of the bargain in ensuring things run smoothly while he's running the point.
However, they'll also need his energy through the ups and downs that have yet to come. After missing so many games, it looks like that won't be an issue.
