Justin Champagnie scored 20 points off the bench on Friday to help the Washington Wizards coast to a 119-99 victory over the visiting Brooklyn Nets.
Alex Sarr had 19 points and five blocks, CJ McCollum added 17 points and Tre Johnson and Marvin Bagley III chipped in 12 points apiece for Washington, which has won four of its last five after a 5-23 start. Bilal Coulibaly added 11 points.
Day’Ron Sharpe, Terance Mann, Ziaire Williams and Drake Powell each scored 14 points for the Nets, who dropped their third straight. Nolan Traore had 12 points, followed by Danny Wolf (11) and Egor Demin (10).
After McCollum’s 3-pointer extended Washington’s lead to 17 to begin the second half, Mann’s personal 8-0 run pulled the Nets within nine.
Washington pushed the advantage to 22 as Champagnie scored seven of a 9-0 spurt, giving the Wizards an 87-65 lead with 3:29 left in the third. Powell’s three-point play cut Brooklyn’s deficit to 16 before Bub Carrington’s 3-pointer stamped a 7-0 Washington run to give the Wizards a 96-73 lead entering the fourth.
Wolf scored six straight points as part of an 8-0 Brooklyn run, trimming the Wizards’ lead to 20 with 7:44 left in regulation. The Nets’ mini-rally continued as Noah Clowney and Wolf’s layups cut the visitors’ deficit to 12 with 4:24 to play.
Sarr’s subsequent 3-pointer and layup sealed the victory.
Washington took a 15-7 lead on Johnson’s triple with 8:16 left in the opening quarter. The Wizards finished the first stanza on an 11-2 run, taking a 37-24 lead on Champagnie’s 3-pointer with one second left.
Washington’s lead ballooned to 18 on Johnson’s trey early in the second quarter. Brooklyn rallied within nine on Sharpe’s layup with 7:27 left, but the Wizards grabbed a 64-50 halftime lead. McCollum and Sharpe led their respective teams with 12 first-half points apiece.
