Phoenix Suns guard Cameron Payne stepped up vs. Nuggets. Now team must decide if he stays

At least Cameron Payne did his part to show up in a major way on Thursday. But that was shadowed by a beatdown.

The Phoenix Suns' backup point guard had a nearly record-setting shooting exhibition in the team's humiliating 25-point home loss to the top-seed Denver Nuggets in Game 6 of the Western Conference semifinals.

Payne had a team-high and playoff career-best 31 points on 12-of-16 shooting, including 7-of-9 from the 3. He would've tied the NBA record for the most triples without a miss in a playoff game had he not missed his final two attempts from beyond the arc.

He had additional playoff highs of six rebounds and 42 minutes played. The latter amount was more than Phoenix's two stars Kevin Durant (23 points in 37 minutes) and Devin Booker (12 points in 36 minutes), who entered the game as this postseason's top scorer (35.9 points per game).

Payne looked gassed at the postgame podium.

“The three was working for me tonight, just kind of kept shooting them. Just wasn’t enough though," Payne said. "Literally pushed myself to the point of exhaustion tonight — really every night, I play as hard as I can. It is the playoffs. Man, I am tired. The three-pointer was working for me today, out of all the games. It was working though. We tried.”

Rewind: Nuggets eliminate Suns from NBA Playoffs with Game 6 rout

Payne stepped up to run Phoenix's offense during the series' last four games after Chris Paul was sidelined from a groin injury that occurred in the third quarter of Phoenix's Game 2 loss in Denver.

The Suns, now with a new owner in Mat Ishbia, are entering an off-season that likely will bring some major changes.

Now that he's entering the final season of his three-year contract for $19 million, Payne might either be a key tradeable asset, or might have secured a spot considering how he stepped up after Paul went down with an injury.

Payne played well averaging about 13 points and six assists during Chris Paul's 14-game absence from a heel injury from Nov. 9 to Dec. 5. But Payne missed a total of 34 games before the postseason from a foot injury and lower back soreness, before he returned for his first playoff appearance in Phoenix's Game 5 first-round win to eliminate the Los Angeles Clippers.

Thursday's loss marked a sobering moment for a Suns franchise that had championship expectations following their blockbuster trade, dealing five future draft picks and former starters Mikal Bridges, Cameron Johnson, and Jae Crowder to the Brooklyn Nets to acquire Kevin Durant and T.J. Warren the day before the Feb. 9 deadline.

Payne averaged 9.5 points, shot 47.9% FG, 40.7% from the 3, in 25 minutes against Denver.

Before Game 3, Payne told reporters that he was "just geeked to be playing" and expected to start in Phoenix's first home game of the series on May 5. The 28-year-old increased the team's offensive pace as he replaced the 18-year-veteran Paul, who's 10 years older than Payne, and Phoenix won Games 3 and 4 to even the series, 2-2.

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In Phoenix's return to Denver in Game 5 on Tuesday, Payne had seven points and four rebounds in the losing effort.

"I thought that pace that he brought in Games 3 and 4 certainly helped us win those two games, and it changed their defensive mindset in Game 5," Phoenix coach Monty Williams said.

"They did a good job of nullifying the pace with physicality, but he brought energy and scoring. When he got the ball, he was getting it down the floor putting pressure on the rim. I thought Jock (Landale) did the same thing from a sprint aspect, rim and run, stuff like that just causing cross-matches. He and Cam helped us win two games in this series and I’m thankful for that."

Landry Shamet, who had nine points in his first playoff start at small forward for Phoenix in Game 6, commended Payne's performance.

"Somebody had to step in. Cam took the brunt of it," Shamet said. "He made a few shots early and he just kept going with the flow of the game and us struggling. He took the onus on himself to try and be aggressive and he did that.”

Thursday's loss to the Nuggets conjured up memories of last year's season-ending playoff loss at home in Game 7 of the semifinal round to the Mavericks.

In the blowout loss against Dallas, Payne had five points in 13 minutes, all in the second half as the game had already slipped away from Phoenix. On Thursday, Payne scored that amount in the first two minutes for Phoenix's first two field goals from deep, and scored three of its first five field goals.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Payne has career-high performance in Suns' seismic Game 6 loss to Nuggets