Anthony Edwards: 'Hearing the pain' from fans is 'the best satisfaction ever'

Anthony Edwards was on a heater Monday night, scoring 16 of his 30 points in the third quarter to fuel a runaway victory for the Minnesota Timberwolves and a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series against the Golden State Warriors.

Edwards went wild in the third, hitting six of eight shots, including a trio of three-pointers, to turn a two-point halftime deficit into a 20-point lead that allowed Minnesota to, as NBA.com's Steve Aschburner perfectly described, "play with their food" in the fourth quarter.

"It's the best feeling ever," Edwards said of his heater. But what got him going in the right direction was the 30-footer he buried at the halftime buzzer. The way Edwards was confidently celebrating after drilling the long shot was essentially a warning to the Warriors that he was about to take over.

"That was a nice shot for me. It got me going," Edwards admitted.

As Edwards dominated, Nickeil Alexander-Walker said the Wolves could "hear the pain" in the crowd at Oracle Arena in San Francisco.

“As a basketball fan, it’s fun, and then as a competitor, it’s fun because he’s on your team,” said Alexander-Walker. “He’s providing a spark, he’s playing with energy, he’s making tough shots on the road.

"You can hear the pain from the crowd when he’s making shots like that. He gets on a heater and he starts to do his thing, being the showman that he is. It’s definitely fun to be a part of, to watch, to have those stories later in the year.”

How does that make Edwards feel, knowing the road fans are suffering?

"Satisfaction," he said. "Just the best satisfaction ever."

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