Caleb Martin is fighting the urge to play hurt. Nobody knows his mentality better than his twin brother, Cody.

Caleb Martin felt pain while raising his right arm, then an “abrupt stoppage” when it reached a certain height.

“It’s almost like your body kind of does like a defense mechanism,” the 76ers forward said Thursday. “… It’s like, ‘Oh, I don’t want to feel that,’ so it kind of just does its own thing.”

That sensation has been getting better in recent days, Martin added. But after trying to play through nagging ailments earlier this season, he is now taking a more cautious approach. He missed a third consecutive game on Friday against the Charlotte Hornets but did not appear on the injury report ahead of Saturday’s game against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Martin has been transparent about how frustrating that has been, especially given the Sixers’ rash of injuries to begin 2024-25. Yet coach Nick Nurse also supports this decision to get the veteran “back to as close to 100 [percent] as we can and see what he’s like.”

“I really love his game,” Nurse recently said of Martin. “There’s no doubting who he is or what he can do, and that he is going to be a huge part of this thing. … We’re confident he’s going to be an important cog in the machine.”

» READ MORE: Joel Embiid scores 34 points in return, leading Sixers to a 108-98 victory over Charlotte Hornets

Martin’s summer free-agency signing was regarded as a bit of a coup, and he was projected to be a significant role player alongside the team’s newly formed All-Star trio of Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, and Paul George. Though the 6-foot-5, 205-pounder’s impact often goes beyond the stat sheet as a defender, cutter, and ball-mover, his 29.4% shooting percentage from three-point range has clearly been impacted by that shoulder impingement. Nurse also said Martin — who entered Saturday averaging 8.7 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 2.3 assists in 20 games — has not looked comfortable or in-rhythm with his shot or as a ballhandler.

Martin lamented earlier this season that he has a tendency to play through injury “to a fault.” That happened when he tried to fight through a back issue in late November — and was already playing with medical tape attached to that shoulder — before missing two games. He then returned for four games after that, but has been sidelined since Dec. 13.

Perhaps nobody understands Martin’s mentality better than his twin brother, Cody, who finished with 11 points, five rebounds, three assists, and two steals as a Hornets starter Friday night.

“He’s been like that since he started playing,” Cody Martin told The Inquirer before Friday’s game. “Whether it was basketball, baseball, football, whatever the case was, we’ve been like that forever.”

The Martin twins spent time before Friday’s tipoff sitting together courtside, a frequent luxury recently thanks to a scheduling quirk that placed all four Sixers-Hornets regular-season matchups before Christmas. Even though they are no longer teammates — which they previously enjoyed in college and Caleb’s first two NBA seasons (2019-20 and 2020-21) — they still talk every day and called each other their “biggest fans and biggest critics.” Caleb said those regular chats with Cody are vital to him staying mentally “level” throughout the ebbs and flows of an NBA season.

“It’s frustrating because you’re not yourself completely,” Cody said of his brother’s injury struggles. “But you also know that corner where it turns, and you start to be yourself. And that’s all that matters, when everything starts clicking.”

Caleb said his rehab plan has involved strengthening that shoulder and letting it rest, because “some things have a mind of its own, and there’s nothing you can force it to do.”

He also took some positive on-court steps this week, when the Sixers had three days between Monday and Friday matchups against the Hornets. He returned to practice, and also went through extra individual shooting work following those team sessions on Wednesday and Thursday.

» READ MORE: ‘I call him Unc Lowry’: Inside the growing relationship between rookie Jared McCain and ‘super vet’ Kyle Lowry

Those reps helped him focus on his mechanics, starting with the feet and working his way up. He sometimes shot with a resistance band around his legs, which he said helps with balance and flow.

“Just trying to make things one motion,” he added, “and take hitches and things out that might have developed through injuries.”

Whenever Caleb returns to the floor, he will rejoin a Sixers team that, following a horrid start to the season, has won six of its past eight games entering Saturday’s matchup at the Eastern Conference-leading Cavaliers. He has been impressed with his teammates’ attention to detail on the defensive end, as well as an offensive pace that accumulated 20 fast-break points Friday.

Until then, Caleb is appreciative that Nurse recognizes the health issues that he previously tried to play through — and that the coach still believes he can be an important contributor.

And brother Cody, naturally, echoes the Sixers’ coach.

“The best is yet to come,” Cody said. “He’s wired for this. That’s just who he is as a player and a person.”