MINNEAPOLIS _ Kristaps Porzingis finished a distant second to Karl-Anthony Towns in last season's Rookie of the Year voting. Porzingis also finished a distant second to Towns in points in Wednesday night's Knicks-Timberwolves game at the Target Center.
But while Towns put a charge into the mostly empty arena with a 47-point performance, Porzingis "settled" for 29 and a victory as the Knicks beat Minnesota, 106-104.
Towns and Porzingis dueled for most of the night, but it was Carmelo Anthony who knocked down the winning jumper with 2.3 seconds left after the Knicks had allowed the Timberwolves to tie the score with less than a minute to go.
Anthony, who finished with 14 points and shot 5-for-16, ended the game by stealing an errant pass as the Timberwolves never got off a final shot.
The Knicks improved to 9-9 overall and 2-6 on the road.
Porzingis shot 11-for-20 and added eight rebounds. Derrick Rose scored just 12, but Brandon Jennings had 14 off the bench.
Towns, in a career-best scoring night, shot 15-for-22 and added 18 rebounds. Andrew Wiggins had 19 for Minnesota (5-13).
The Knicks led for most of the game, but the Timberwolves tied it at 102 with 49.8 seconds left on a three-pointer by Zach Lavine.
Porzingis put the Knicks back on top with a put-back dunk off a Justin Holiday miss with 36.4 to go. Towns tied it again at 104 on a pair of free throws with 24.2 left for his final points.
The Knicks were worried about a fast start by the young Timberwolves, who are struggling in former Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau's first season at the helm. But it was the Knicks who started hot, taking a 12-4 lead less than three minutes into the game.
"We tell them (the Timberwolves) are great at starting games, especially in the first half, and that's not been our strong suit," coach Jeff Hornacek said. "So when we do it, we tend to win. Right from the start, our guys have to be ready to go."
Towns scored Minnesota's first seven points. The Knicks were unable to stop the 21-year-old in the first quarter as he rang up 22 points on 8-for-8 from the field and grabbed seven rebounds in 12 minutes. The Timberwolves led at the end of the quarter by 31-28.
But Towns had to sit at some point and Knicks spirits had to rise when they saw Cole Aldrich, the onetime Knick, replace Towns at the start of the second quarter.
The Knicks outscored Minnesota 30-18 in the second to talk a 58-49 lead into halftime. Towns played 6:43 in the quarter and was held to four points as the Knicks rotated big men in to try to contain him. The Knicks were without starting center Joakim Noah, who was out with a sprained left ankle.
The Knicks also lost starting shooting guard Courtney Lee to a sprained ankle in the first quarter. Lee had hit his only three shots, including a three-pointer, and had seven points in 7:53. But he did not return.
Porzingis scored nine in the quarter to give him a team-high 16 for the half. And the Knicks got help off the bench with six points each in the second from Jennings and Mindaugus Kuzminskas.
In Monday's 112-103 loss to Oklahoma City, the Knicks got only 19 points from their bench for the entire game. That was not a problem on Wednesday.
The Timberwolves pulled to within one at 69-68 in the third quarter, but the Knicks never gave up the lead and went into the fourth up 81-74.
Towns passed his previous career high of 35 in the third.
