San Antonio Spurs forward Julian Champagnie was hitting 3-pointers with an easy stroke on Wednesday night as the Spurs took a 55-48 halftime lead over the New York Knicks in Game 1 of the 2026 NBA Finals at Frost Center in San Antonio, Texas.

Champagnie finished with 15 points at halftime, going 5-for-6 from beyond the 3-point arc. As the NBA world watched Champagnie go off from 3-point land, there were a lot of reactions.

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Julian Champagnie’s First-Half Outburst Draws NBA World’s Opinions

What’s also interesting about Champagnie is a New Yorker himself, so maybe there might be some heartstrings pulling in the NBA Finals right now. PFSN Deputy NBA Editor Alex Kennedy posted this on X about Champagnie.

Kennedy wrote, “Spurs forward Julian Champagnie is from New York. He said that playing in the NBA Finals at Madison Square Garden is ‘the best feeling ever.’”

In addition to how Champagnie felt about playing the Knicks, it’s worth noting that he was with the Philadelphia 76ers in 2023. But the 76ers pushed him off the team so that Mac McClung could stay on the 76ers’ roster for the NBA Slam-Dunk Contest.

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Now, what about these NBA World onlookers and their thoughts about Champagnie?

Ahmed/The Ears/IG: BigBizTheGd, who has a large following on X, posted this on X: “Oh nah, Julian Champagnie looking like prime Klay Thompson, Knicks might be in trouble”.

He also added this comment after watching Champagnie on the court for San Antonio against the Knicks: “Julian Champagnie talking s**t to every Knicks player.”

Hoops Reference’s account on X had this thought while watching Champagnie connect from deep in the first half: “God I love Champagnie’s confidence so much man, dream role player.”

An influencer shared thoughts about the Champagnie-Thompson comparisons. The influencer posted on X, “Julian Champagnie Klay Thompson same s**t both cost my team a finals appearance.”

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Jacob Ortiz, who runs Legion Hoops, shared a halftime image from realapp along with these comments in a post on X: “We gotta put more respect on Julian Champagnie’s name.”

Knicks reporter Stefan Bondy of the New York Post was on the scene at Frost Center in San Antonio, where he shared thoughts on Champagnie and his play. Bondy posted on X, “We got some good ol’ Brooklyn trashtalking between Julian Champagnie and Jose Alvarado. Fun stuff.”

Connor Griffin of Barstool Sports also remembered when the 76ers dumped Champagnie so that they could keep McClurg on the roster.

Griffin posted on X, “Julian Champagnie has 15 points and 5 threes in the first half of an NBA Finals game. Daryl Morey waived him when he was with the Sixers, so we could sign Mac McClung to compete in the dunk contest.”

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After three quarters, the Spurs held a one-point lead at 76-75. Champagnie had 15 points after three quarters, tied with Spurs star Victor Wembanyama in points. It’ll be interesting to see if Champagnie gets involved in the fourth quarter.