Top 5 individual performances by rookies in the 2020-21 NBA season
The NBA has produced some of the finest rookies in recent memory, with Anthony Edwards, LaMelo Ball and Tyrese Haliburton turning in one standout performance after another. The three players are among the top rookies this season, but they aren’t the only ones who have caught fans’ attention this year.
There have been many remarkable performances by the 2020 rookie class. But five particular performances stand out from the rest.
Five best rookie performances this NBA season:
From the top three rookies in the NBA this season, only Haliburton did not make it to the top five.
Without further ado, let's have a look at the top five rookie performances in the 2020-21 NBA.
#5 LaMelo Ball
Date: March 1, 2021
Key Stats: 30 points / 6 rebounds / 8 assists / 4 steals / 1 block / 10-of-18 FGs / 5-of-7 3pt FGs.
This was perhaps LaMelo Ball’s best all-round performance of the season. The 19-year old registered the second 30-point game of his career on a night when the NBA’s other Melo, Carmelo Anthony, scored a season-high 29 points.
Anthony exchanged jerseys with the third pick of last year’s NBA Draft at the end of the game in a sign of mutual respect between the two players.
Ball paid respect to the NBA veteran when he did Anthony's signature 3-to-the-dome gesture after making a 3-point shot in the second quarter.
“He can do it,” Anthony said laughing. "He can only do it one time, but he can do it. I blessed him, let him know that he can carry it on.”
Despite a 111-123 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers, the younger Melo knocked down five of seven 3-pointers and tallied a career-high four steals and a blocked shot.
Moreover, this was Ball’s fifth straight game where he registered 20 or more points at a time when he was still the leading candidate for the top rookie honors. of the season.
#4 Saddiq Bey
Date: Feb. 12, 2021
Key Stats: 30 points / 12 rebounds / 0 TOs / 10-of-12 FGs / 7-of-7 3pt FGs.
Saddiq Bey scored a career-high 30 points, 19 of them coming in the first half, as the Detroit Pistons beat the Boston Celtics 108-102. He also had 12 massive rebounds to his credit.
The 19th overall pick in last year’s NBA Draft was perfect from the 3-point arc, nailing his seventh and final three with 38.7 seconds remaining after the Celtics saw their 13-point fourth-quarter lead whittled down to just three.
Bey’s performance made him just the fourth Pistons rookie (Grant Hill, Allan Houston and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope being the others) in the last 30 years to score at least 30 points in a game. His tally of seven 3-pointers is also a record for a Pistons rookie.
Moreover, he became the first rookie to make at least seven threes without a miss, the fourth rookie in NBA history to score 30 or more points with seven threes and only the 19th player ever to go 7/7 from the 3-point range.
#3 Tyrese Maxey
Date: Jan. 9, 2020
Key Stats: 39 points / 7 rebounds / 6 assists / 2 steals / 18-of-33 FGs.
Forced to play extra minutes and start for the Philadelphia 76ers because of the league's COVID-19 protocols ravaging their roster, Tyrese Maxey poured in 39 points in what was then the most points scored by a rookie this season.
The 21st pick of the draft played 44 minutes and made the most of his playing time. It was unfortunate that his effort came in a 103-115 loss to the Denver Nuggets.
Nevertheless, Maxie tallied the most points scored by a Sixers rookie since Allen Iverson scored 40 against the Washington Bullets in 1997. Maxie shot from all over the court, too, mixing up his drives to the basket with jumpers, floaters and threes.
However, despite his performance that night, he is yet to get another opportunity to replicate his exploits. That's because he is a role player in a deep Sixers team that is competing for an NBA championship. Moreover, he’s averaging just 7.3 points per game in only 14.4 minutes a night.
#2 Anthony Edwards
Date: March 18, 2021
Key Stats: 42 points / 7 rebounds / 3 assists / 2 steals / 15-of-31 FGs.
Anthony Edwards recorded a career-high 42 points during the Minnesota Timberwolves’ 123-119 victory over the Phoenix Suns to become the franchise's record holder for most points by a rookie.
At 19 years and 226 days old, Edwards became the third-youngest player in NBA history to score 40-plus points in a game, behind only superstar forwards LeBron James and Kevin Durant.
More importantly, Edwards’ team won on the night, and he played a huge part in that. He scored on a layup with 2:36 to go in the game to reach 41 points and give the Timberwolves the lead for good. He also canned one of two free throws with 8.3 seconds remaining to extend his team's lead to three points, 121-118.
Edwards was joined by teammate Karl-Anthony Towns, who scored 41 points, as the duo became just the seventh pair of teammates to score at least 40 points in the game in the last 20 NBA seasons.
#1 Anthony Edwards
Date: May 5, 2021
Key Stats: 42 points / 6 rebounds / 7 assists / 17-of-22 FGs / 8-of-9 3pt FGs.
Where do we start? The No.1 overall pick of the 2020 NBA Draft outdid his other 42-point performance by a mile.
Against the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday, Edwards had an NBA game for the ages, and that’s not an exaggeration. The Georgia product tied his career-high and the franchise’s rookie-high with a 42-point night to set a franchise rookie record, scoring eight 3-pointers in a game. He also set a career-high with seven assists.
Now for the all-time records.
ESPN Stats & Info stated that with the points-rebounds-assists combo he registered on this night made him join “LeBron James and Kevin Durant as the only teenagers in NBA history to have a 40-5-5 game.”
He’s also only the second teenager in league history to record multiple 40-plus point games. Only James has more 40-plus point outings (3) before turning 20 than Edwards, but the season is not yet over for the latter.
Additionally, Statmuse tells us that Edwards is the first rookie in NBA history with 40 or more points, eight or more threes and shooting 75% or better in a game.
The only thing that could have made this night better is if the Timberwolves had beaten the Grizzlies, but Ja Morant spoiled Edwards's day by beating his team 139-135.
Nevertheless, it was Anthony Edwards' latest performance in a fine NBA Rookie of the Year campaign, and it’s a strong one, as it is the absolute best rookie performance of the season… so far.
Also Read: 5 best isolation players in the 2020-21 NBA season.