OKLAHOMA CITY _ For the second straight game, for the second time in two nights, the Timberwolves showed that, while it might not always be pretty, this is a team that is learning to finish.
Up 13 entering the fourth quarter at Chesapeake Energy Arena against an Oklahoma City team also learning to play with a vastly changed starting lineup, the Wolves saw that lead dwindle, all the way down, until Carmelo Anthony's 3-pointer with 4.7 seconds put the Thunder up one.
Without a timeout, the Wolves got the ball to Andrew Wiggins, who dribbled across halfcourt and, halfway between halfcourt and the 3-point arch, let go a buzzer-beating 3-pointer that banked home, giving the Wolves a 115-113 victory.
Wiggins finished with 27 points, 12 coming in the fourth quarter. Karl-Anthony Towns scored 27, with 12 rebounds. Jimmie Butler scored 15 and Jeff Teague had 19 with nine assists and six points.
Russell Westbrook scored 15 of his 31 points in the fourth quarter. Anthony finished with 23, Steven Adams had 17 points and 13 rebounds.
With the Thunder starting the game 7-for-19, the Wolves controlled the pace early, building a lead as big as 13 on Wiggins' shot with 2:49 left in the first quarter.
Then, against mostly Wolves reserves, it was all Thunder the rest of the quarter. Jerami Grant's three-point play started a 9-1 run to end the quarter _ Anthony had four in the run _ that pulled the Thunder within 28-23 entering the second.
The Thunder kept it going, turning that 9-1 run into a 29-13 run that led to a 43-40 Thunder lead on George's basket early in the second. The Wolves responded with a 10-1 run to take a 50-44 lead on Towns' three-point play with 4:27 left in the half.
The Thunder pulled within a point on Westbrook's 3-pointer, but the Wolves ended the half on a 9-3 run _ one that included two baskets by Butler _ to take a 61-54 halftime lead on Taj Gibson's corner 3-pointer.
That lead grew to 12 early in the third before an 8-0 Oklahoma City run cut that to four on Anthony's jumper. But the Wolves pushed back, going back up 12 on Gibson's basket with about 3 minutes left in the quarter. And the Wolves held tight to that lead, getting two free throws from Wiggins late in the quarter to go up 88-75 entering the fourth.
