WASHINGTON — Justin Champagnie is no stranger to sporadic minutes.
The 6-foot-7 forward started 19 games last season. He also received several “DNP – coach’s decisions.” But when he played, he produced.
That streak continued Wednesday when his fourth-quarter outburst willed the Wizards to a 128-116 win over the Milwaukee Bucks. Brian Keefe said Champagnie is everything you want in a winning player. He does all the little things — rebounding, hustle plays, physical defense, shotmaking — necessary to win close
games.
He did those winning things against the Bucks.
“Justin always produces when his time is called, and that’s really hard to do,” Keefe said. “He has been assigned to our G League team before, and then called up and played and produced. He can play with any lineup because he crashes the boards, he’s a great cutter, he’s a really good defender. And he brings the shooting and an edge of toughness to him … He’s always stepped up when his numbers have been called.”
Some grew concerned about Champagnie’s role after he sat until the fourth quarter in Washington’s preseason win over the Detroit Pistons. Could Keefe really keep such an impactful player on the bench?
The answer was no. Champagnie entered halfway through the opening frame in Wednesday’s opener and made an immediate impact. He grabbed four of his eight rebounds in the opening quarter while playing stout defense.
Washington trailed 96-90 30 seconds into the fourth quarter after another demoralizing Bucks triple. The Wizards had stuck around for two quarters but couldn’t find their breakthrough.
Then came Champagnie’s fourth-quarter barrage.
The 25-year-old forward answered with a top-of-the-key triple to pull his squad within three. After a Young layup, Champagnie rifled a feed to Deandre Ayton, who sank a layup to put the Wizards ahead for the first time since the second quarter.
“That ain’t nothing new. I ain’t been here forever, but I know JC is a winning player, and I know what he brings to our team,” Young said.
A few possessions later, Champagnie leaked out in transition and, upon receiving a perfect outlet pass from Kyshawn George, finished through contact for an and-one that ignited the Capital One Arena crowd and forced another Bucks timeout.
Champagnie finished with eight points and eight rebounds. He led the contest in plus-minus (+17), offensive rating (138.6) and net rating (36.3).
“Coming off the bench and playing in spot minutes, I know it can be frustrating for [Champagnie],” Young said. “But his attitude and his positivity when he’s on the bench and when he comes into the game, making the impact he does, not everybody can have that type of mentality to be able to come in and make that type of impact for us. We need him to have it for us to win a lot of games.”
