The Los Angeles Lakers were trounced on Monday by the Houston Rockets, 135-119, and just like that, their spurt of five wins in their previous seven games is effectively over.
They had an alarming lack of energy and effort. They were outrebounded by a wide margin and were outscored by 24 in fast-break points. Yet again, they came out lackadaisical against a team that was seemingly inferior to them, at least on paper, and got embarrassed.
While Alperen Sengun and Jalem Green scored 31 and 34 points, respectively, for Houston, one player who stood out was rookie Cam Whitmore. In the last 2:19 of the first quarter, he went on a personal 12-2 run and turned a one-point Houston lead into a 42-31 advantage. Houston never came close to trailing again.
For the game, Whitmore had 20 points and six rebounds in 18 minutes. This season, he’s averaging 11 points on 48.2% overall shooting and 39.3% from 3-point range in 16.4 minutes per game.
In last June’s draft, the Lakers took guard Jalen Hood-Schifino with the No. 17 pick. One pick later, the Miami Heat selected 6-foot-6, 225-pound forward Jaime Jaquez Jr., who is having a very strong rookie year. The Rockets then took Whitmore at No. 20.
After the Lakers gained a close look at Whitmore on Monday, it is clear they made a big mistake by not drafting him.
While people were concerned about Whitmore’s medical history on draft day, it has turned into a non-issue, and as the season has worn on, he has seemingly gotten better.