​Spurs forward Julian Champagnie (30) looks to shoot while guarded by Kings forward Keegan Murray (13) during the preseason NBA game against the Sacramento Kings at Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2026. (Andrew J. Whitaker/San Antonio Express-News)
Julian Champagnie pointed to the Spurs’ roster continuity as a factor in his impressive sharpshooting in Tuesday night’s 130-103 pounding of the winless Sacramento Kings.The fifth-year forward pumped in a season-high 26 points on the strength of 8 of 13 from 3-point range in 25 minutes off the bench.”They do a good job of finding both of us when you’re open,” he said of his teammates feeding him and Victor Wembanyama, who finished with a season-best 29 points on 14 of 21 from the field.”Over the past couple of years, we’ve grown the chemistry and grown the relationships,” Champagnie added. “We all know where we want to be on the court. I think it’s a product of that.”Indeed, general manager Brian Wright made sure the Spurs were the NBA’s most intact team heading into 2026-27 after the young squad reached the NBA Finals last season.From Wembanyama on down to No. 4 guard Jordan McLaughlin, they returned an average of 96.2% of last season’s minutes, points, starts and win shares, according to rotogrinders.com.”We wanted a lot of people to be back because of what we experienced last year,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said. Champagnie six 3-pointers in the second period tied a franchise record. His eight 3-pointers in the first half matched his own record set last New Year’s Eve against New York when he finished with a club-record 11 3-pointers. The Spurs’ season-high 35 assists also underscored their on-court harmony. Four starters finished with five or more helpers, with Devin Vassell’s season-high eight topping the chart.”The thing that was good to see is our team did a good job of recognizing where he was once he got going,” Johnson said. “We’ve had some time in the past four years where we’ve done a poor job of that. And not intentionally. I think we’ve grown in that aspect a little bit. Tonight was an example of that.”SubscribeThere’s more to San Antonio with the Express-News. Subscribe today for just 25¢.This article originally published at How Spurs’ chemistry contributed to Julian Champagnie’s big night.