Porzingis, Knicks Outlast Towns, Wolves 106-104

Kristaps Porzingis had 29 points and eight rebounds in a thrilling duel with Karl-Anthony Towns, helping the Knicks beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 106-104 on Wednesday night.

Carmelo Anthony capped a quiet night with a game-winning 18-footer over Andrew Wiggins with 2.3 seconds to play, helping the Knicks avoid what would have been an epic collapse in the fourth quarter.

Towns had a career-high 47 points and 18 rebounds for the Wolves, who tied the game in the final minute after trailing by 17 with 7:30 to play.

But Porzingis threw Gorgui Dieng aside for a putback slam and Anthony tipped the inbounds pass on Minnesota's final possession to thwart the comeback.

Brandon Jennings scored 12 points off the bench and Porzingis had a big block against his friend and draft classmate Towns to help the Knicks weather the loss of Joakim Noah, who sat out with a sprained left ankle. New York made 13 3-pointers to Minnesota's four.

After the Timberwolves lost to Utah on Monday, a despondent Towns vowed to do more to help his team win. He came out a man on fire, scoring 22 points on 8-for-8 shooting and grabbing seven rebounds in the first quarter.

Porzingis held his own, banking in jumpers and swatting shots left and right. The two young stars rarely guarded each other, but Towns did go at Porzingis late in the second quarter, rising up to try to dunk on him only to have the Latvian emphatically stuff him for Towns' first missed shot in 11 attempts.

Porzingis made 11 of 20 shots and three 3-pointers, scoring 10 in the fourth to hold off Towns and the Wolves.

TIP-INS

Knicks: Anthony had 14 points on 5-for-16 shooting. ... SG Courtney Lee only played eight minutes because of a sprained left ankle. ... Coach Jeff Hornacek said F Lance Thomas, who has not played yet because of a sore left ankle, had a good workout during shootaround and will practice on Friday in the hopes of playing in the next game or two.

Timberwolves: Wiggins had 19 points, seven rebounds and four assists. ... Towns' 22 points in the first quarter were two off of Chauncey Billups' franchise record of 24. ... G/F Brandon Rush was inactive with a sore big toe that has bothered him for much of the season.

FOND MEMORIES

The Bulls made the playoffs all five seasons with coach Tom Thibodeau leading Derrick Rose and Noah. Rose and Noah were two players Thibodeau, now with Minnesota, deeply respected for their competitive drive and determination.

"You don't realize what you have with him until he's not around," Noah said. "He used to tell me that when I played for him because we used to butt heads all the time. He's definitely one of the tops in the business."

SCOUTING TRIP

Sacramento mayor and former NBA star Kevin Johnson met with Wolves owner Glen Taylor before the game. Taylor also is a part-owner of the Minnesota United soccer team that will debut in the MLS in 2017. Johnson sat with United's primary owner Bill McGuire as he continues investigating bringing an MLS team to Sacramento.

UP NEXT

The two teams meet again in two days, this time in Manhattan on Friday night for a game in which Thibodeau will return to the arena he called home for seven seasons as a Knicks assistant.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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