Lakers: Energizer Bunny Wenyen Gabriel Humble Despite Big Night Against Houston

LA's reserve center played more minutes than starter Thomas Bryant.

25-year-old Los Angeles Lakers Wenyen Gabriel had another good night Monday, proving to be a critical two-way component in LA's 140-132 Crypto.com Arena victory over the visiting Houston Rockets.

Across 24:07, Gabriel was LA's fourth-leading scorer. He notched 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the floor and 4-of-4 shooting from the charity stripe, pulled down nine rebounds, rejected two shots, and added a steal and a dish for extra credit. He would have gotten even more run had he not fouled out of the game.

"Just trying to get better every day. I'm learning every day, and the more I learn, the better I'll be out there." @WenyenGabriel on his extra energy every night. pic.twitter.com/vN6HYa1Rqo

— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) January 17, 2023

"[I] just continue to play with high energy, and [I'm] finding my niche offensively. I've been able to catch a rhythm and play off our big dogs like LeBron and Russ," Gabriel allowed. "So just playing within the offense.

"Just trying to get better every day. I'm learning every day, and the more I learn, the better I'll be out there." 

The 6'9" power forward/center is enjoying a career year with Los Angeles, averaging career highs of 6.6 points on 62.7% field goal shooting, 4.1 rebounds, and 0.7 blocks a night for the season in 15.8 minutes a night.

But of late, he's been stepping up his output. Through his last four games, Gabriel is averaging 12.8 points on .667/400/.833 shooting splits, 5.5 rebounds and two blocks per game across 25.7 minutes.