Anthony Edwards hangs career-high 42 on Suns, could at least make Rookie of the Year conversation interesting

Edwards has been on a tear since the All-Star break, but the award is still LaMelo Ball's to lose

To this point in the season, one of the surest bets you could've made was LaMelo Ball for Rookie of the Year. It's still a pretty sure bet. Ball clearly remains the favorite. But the gap, perhaps, between Ball and everyone else is no longer an ocean, as No. 1 overall pick Anthony Edwards is at least making it interesting. On Thursday, Edwards continued his recent tear by torching the Phoenix Suns for a career-high 42 points on 15-of-31 shooting as Minnesota pulled the 123-119 upset. 

Edwards now owns the Minnesota franchise record for points in a single game by a rookie (passing Zach LaVine's 37 in 2015), and per ESPN Stats and Info, he is the third-youngest player in history to score at least 40 points in a single game, trailing only LeBron James and Kevin Durant. 

As Ball has not only put up terrific numbers but actually impacted winning on a Charlotte Hornets team that is currently in the playoffs, Edwards has been one of the league's most inefficient scorers on the league's worst team. But over his last 10 games, Edwards is averaging 28 points on 44 percent shooting, and since the All-Star break, a span of five games, he's putting up 30 points a night on 46 percent shooting. 

There is no denying Edwards' raw physical tools. He's a freak athlete with a lethal first step. He's a fearless downhill attacker, and his combination of speed and power is absolutely elite. He's already one of the angriest dunkers in the world, and his still-questionable shot selection notwithstanding, he can create a clean jumper for himself at will with pretty advanced footwork and a natural feel for space creation. 

Maybe more than anything, Edwards competes like hell. Coming out, there was some fear he could turn out like a young Andrew Wiggins, another eye-popping athlete who never really developed as a shooter or an efficient scorer and never seemed to, as they say, want the smoke. Edwards wants all the smoke. He wants to carry the whole load. For better or worse, he's not going to fade into the background of a game, let alone a franchise. 

Edwards has now scored at least 21 points in eight of his last nine games. Last Sunday, he put what was, at the time, a career-high 34 on the Blazers. Look at the first two finishes in this package -- one with his off-hand, the next with some deft footwork, before he easily navigates behind a screen for one of his six 3-pointers. 

Edwards now leads all rookies in scoring at 16.8 points a night, which has been a consistent predictor for Rookie of the Year. But Ball, who put up 27 on Thursday in a loss to the Lakers, is right on his heels at 16 a night, and Ball's 45-38-80 shooting splits far outclass Edwards, who's at 39 percent from the field, 32 percent from 3 and 77 percent from the free-throw line overall. 

And again, Ball is winning. Rookie of the Year is most definitely his as it stands. But if Edwards keeps playing like this, and Ball falls off some, who knows what could happen. There's a lot of season to go.