{"id":638138,"date":"2026-04-29T09:21:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-29T09:21:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/638138\/"},"modified":"2026-04-29T09:21:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-29T09:21:10","slug":"how-julian-champagnies-fast-start-got-the-spurs-rolling-in-game-5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/638138\/","title":{"rendered":"How Julian Champagnie’s fast start got the Spurs rolling in Game 5"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"San<\/p>\n

San Antonio Spurs forward Julian Champagnie (30) drives down the court during the first half of Game 5 of a first-round NBA playoff series at Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Tuesday, April 28, 2026. The Spurs won 114-95 to advance to the second round for the first time since 2017.<\/p>\n

Sam Owens\/San Antonio Express-News\"San<\/p>\n

San Antonio Spurs forward Julian Champagnie (30) shoots a 3-pointer over Portland Trail Blazers guard Scoot Henderson (00) during the first half of Game 5 of a first-round NBA playoff series at Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Tuesday, April 28, 2026.<\/p>\n

Sam Owens\/San Antonio Express-News\"Portland<\/p>\n

Portland Trail Blazers forward Toumani Camara (33) shoves San Antonio Spurs forward Julian Champagnie (30) during the first half of Game 5 of a first-round NBA playoff series at Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Tuesday, April 28, 2026. The Spurs won 114-95 to advance to the second round for the first time since 2017.<\/p>\n

Sam Owens\/San Antonio Express-News<\/p>\n

Coach Mitch Johnson didn’t want to leave anything to chance after watching the Spurs dig double-digit holes the last two games in Portland before rallying for wins.<\/p>\n

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“Getting off to a good start and setting ourselves in the game is key,” Johnson said before Game 5 on Tuesday night.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Julian Champagnie made sure it happened.<\/p>\n

The fourth-year forward scored 11 of his 19 points in the first period as the Spurs built a tone-setting 12-point lead on\u00a0their way to a 114-95 victory over the Trail Blazers<\/a> in the fifth and deciding game of their first-round Western Conference playoff series.<\/p>\n

“He was super locked in,” Spurs guard\u00a0Stephon Castle said of Champagnie.<\/p>\n

Spurs forward Julian Champagnie, on the energy in the arena. \u201cI genuinely think we have the best fans, and the loudest ones. Tonight, the energy was insane, from the start of the game. … The fans are great, man. We need them. Them showing up gives us a big boost.\u201d pic.twitter.com\/erOSqSuAUM<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Spurs Nation (@Spurs_Nation) April 29, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

The New York City native missed his first shot of the game, a 3-point attempt just 47 seconds into the contest, before connecting on three in a row from downtown in just over five minutes. He arrived at the Frost Bank Center averaging 8.0 points for the series and just 3.5 attempts from beyond the arc after averaging a career best 11.1 points and 6.2 attempts from distance in the regular season.<\/p>\n

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“All series they made an\u00a0emphasis on trying to limit his touches, not let him get any good looks,” Castle said. “So when he finally got the ones he\u00a0was deserving, he knocked them down. I felt like he was doing all the little things all series and I thought he deserved to start a game like that.”<\/p>\n

Champagnie said a subtle change in his approach helped open things up for him.<\/p>\n

“Just started moving a little more,” he said. “The first couple of games I did a poor job of moving without the basketball, so just finding my little spots.”<\/p>\n

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With the St. John’s alumnus setting the tone, the Spurs went into halftime with a commanding 65-45 advantage.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

“I thought it was probably our most professional game of the series,” said Castle, who finished with 15 points. “We punched them in the chest first in a game that mattered, especially when they’re on the ropes. We’re at 3-1, they’re on the road. So just trying to send that message to start the game.”<\/p>\n

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“It was as sharp as we’ve been in terms of five guys on the court with just game-plan execution and then putting really, really solid fundamentals on top of it,” the coach said. “When you go back and look at the passing, the boxing out, the spacing, the running, it was high level.”<\/p>\n

Champagnie entered halftime with 14 points on 4 of 5 from 3-point territory. His four 3s in\u00a0the first half were the most by a Spur in the opening half of a playoff game since Danny Green had four on April 30, 2016 in a 124-92 win over Oklahoma City in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals.<\/p>\n

In addition to his 19 points, Champagnie finished with seven rebounds and three assists in 30 minutes.<\/p>\n

In addition to Johnson\u00a0stressing the need to avoid falling into another hole,\u00a0the Spurs had another reason why they wanted to come out throwing haymakers.<\/p>\n

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“We didn’t want to go back to Portland,” Champagnie said. “That was kind of the emphasis for the guys on the team. We just didn’t want to fly back to Portland. It’s a four-hour flight. So being up 3-1 and playing at home, it’s a good chance to close out and not go back. So that was all of the motivation we needed.”<\/p>\n

All-Star guard De’Aaron Fox, who had a team-high 21 points and a team-best nine rebounds, said it was all about being “able to hit hit first.”<\/p>\n

“In Game 2, Game 3, they hit us first and then we were trying to fight back,” Fox said. “We started off on our heels and then we had to try to get them on their heels. But us hitting first (tonight) put us in a great position.”<\/p>\n

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And it was Champagnie who landed the most punches.<\/p>\n