Cam Payne heater leads undermanned 76ers past the Grizzlies

Mar 11, 2026 - 04:30

On a night highlighted by Bam Adebaya dropping 83 on the Washington Wizards and Maxx Crosby having his trade from the Las Vegas Raiders to the Baltimore Ravens, the Philadelphia 76ers had a pretty exciting turn of events of their own, with none other than recent addition Cam Payne leading the team to a 139-129 win over the Minnesota Grizzlies.

Now granted, the Grizzlies are a 23-win team and didn’t play their lone remaining Big 3 star, Ja Morant, against Nick Nurse’s squad, but in this day and age, any 76ers win is hard to come by, especially in a game without Joel Embiid, Paul George, and Tyrese Maxey.

Fortunately, VJ Edgecombe was able to make it back from an injury suffered against the Spurs earlier this month and started the game alongside Quentin Grimes, Kelly Oubre, Adem Bona, and Dominick Barlow, playing 35 minutes in his triumphant return.

After watching the 76ers struggle to get much production out of their non-star starters for much of the season, Philadelphia had four starters score in double-digits, with Barlow going for 11, Edgecombe hitting 21, Grimes going for 23, and Oubre leading all starters with 30 points. Oubre did not, however, lead all 76ers in points, as in an absolute heater of a showing, Payne went nuclear off the bench, scoring 32 points in 30 minutes while making all eight of his 3 pointers, all six of his free throws, and nine of his 10 shots from the field as a whole on the way to a 30 piece.

And the best part? Payne wasn’t just hogging the ball but shared the love with his teammates, dishing out 10 dimes to record a double-double on a +/= of +22.

Have the 76ers finally found a more team-friendly offensive approach where everyone eats? Does Maxey really hog the ball too much, as many of his haters have claimed? Ultimately, Payne isn’t going to shoot 8-8 from beyond the arc every game, so it’s hard to say, but in this one, he certainly looked impressive, and like the kind of microwave bench scorer who can give the 76ers buckets in reserve alongside Jabari Walker.