LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — Carmelo Anthony came through when it counted for the New York Knicks, who withstood a career-high 47 points from Minnesota’s Karl-Anthony Towns in a 106-104 NBA victory over the Timberwolves on Wednesday.
Anthony’s shooting struggles didn’t stop Knicks coach Jeff Hornacek from going to his veteran star with the game on the line.
With 2.3 seconds remaining, Anthony’s jump shot over Timberwolves guard lifted the Knicks to victory in Minneapolis.
He had connected on just four of 15 shots before that, a disappointing performance that was forgotten in the glow of his game-winner — the 18th of his career in the final 10 seconds of a game.
“Stay with it. Believe in yourself,” Anthony said. “That’s something that I will never stop doing, and my teammates believed in me. Coach believed in me to draw that play up. Either we were going to win or we were going to overtime.”
Anthony’s effort helped New York overcome Towns’ 47 points and 18 rebounds.
Towns, the 21-year-old reigning Rookie of the Year, became the youngest player in Timberwolves history to score 40 points.
The second-year center surpassed his previous high of 35 points with a basket late in the third quarter.
Nevertheless, he found plenty of fault with his game.
“I had some miscues where I let things slide away,” Towns said. “I missed three free throws, missed some rebounds, missed some shots I should have made.”
Minnesota trailed by seven after three quarters and by as many as 17 in the fourth quarter. They tied the score at 102-102 on a three-pointer by Zach LaVine, and knotted it at 104-104 with 24.2 seconds left on two free throws by Towns.
“That momentum shift is tough to stop,” Hornacek said, adding that he didn’t hesitate to turn to Anthony.
“Just the confidence in Carmelo being a 10-time All-Star, that’s what those guys do,” he said.
Knicks forward Kristaps Porzingis scored 29 points and point guard Brandon Jennings provided 12 points and seven assists off the bench.
The teams meet again on Friday at Madison Square Garden.
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