Sometimes, the minutes are infrequent for Cameron Payne. A few here and some others there. 

Being the backup point guard for the Knicks doesn’t always mean getting a lot of opportunities to shoot or having flashy moments during games, especially with Jalen Brunson on the team.

But during the Knicks’ 140-106 win against the Bucks on Sunday, Payne fell one point short of his season high with 18 points on 6-for-10 shooting — including 4-for-7 beyond the arc — in just 14 minutes, providing what Josh Hart described as a “huge boost” to help the Knicks snap a stretch of four losses across five games. 

“He’s someone who’s very capable of scoring the ball at a high level,” Hart said. “Obviously, playing behind JB, sometimes he doesn’t get those opportunities. But we know what he’s capable of, and that’s just gonna continue to fuel his confidence and our confidence in him.” 

Payne, a 30-year-old former first-round pick who signed a one-year deal, logged at least 20 minutes five times across the Knicks’ first 16 games, but that has happened just once since — Jan. 1, when both Brunson (calf) and Miles McBride (hamstring) were out with injuries.

Otherwise, Payne’s contributions have come in bursts.

He collected 11 points during the loss to the Thunder on Friday, which marked the first time since Dec. 23 he topped double digits, and then carried that 5-for-11 night over into Sunday. 

Thirteen of his points came in the second quarter, with six coming on back-to-back 3s.

He found space behind the arc around the Bucks defense.

He didn’t hesitate to unleash the attempts. And by the end of the frame, Payne and Karl-Anthony Towns had accounted for 26 of the Knicks’ 39 points during the quarter. 

And on a Knicks team with a lingering depth issue, with starters continuing to log heavy minutes and coach Tom Thibodeau again beginning to face criticism for the workload he gives his starting five, Payne provided a glimpse of a possible internal solution to fix the issue — with the trade deadline less than a month away. 

“Those were big minutes, especially the way they unfolded,” Thibodeau said.