OKLAHOMA CITY -- Andrew Wiggins didn't have time to get near the basket for a final shot.
Just inside halfcourt was close enough.
Wiggins' desperation heave banked in as time expired to give the Minnesota Timberwolves a 115-113 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday night.
"I could see how much time was left," Wiggins said. "I got as close as I could and let it go."
Carmelo Anthony had hit a three-pointer with about five seconds left to give the Thunder the lead. The Timberwolves were out of timeouts, so they had to scramble. Taj Gibson inbounded to Wiggins, who rushed up the court and got free with help from a crushing pick by Karl-Anthony Towns before pulling up for the winner.
"Everything worked perfectly," Wiggins said. "Taj found me. [Towns] had a great screen. When it left my hands, the release felt amazing."
Gibson said the Timberwolves practice those kinds of plays regularly.
"We practice it six times in practice every day," Gibson said. "Once I got the ball, my job is to take the ball out, be patient, look for the open man, look for the guy running the baseline. I was trying to get Jeff [Teague], but Wig was wide open. [Towns] did what he was supposed to do, backscreen, and the rest is history."
Thunder forward Paul George got knocked down on Towns' screen, and it freed up Wiggins.
"I did see Paul go down, but I didn't have a great look to see how he went down and why," Thunder Coach Billy Donovan said. "If it was an illegal screen, the officials will deal with that stuff. For me it's about focusing on our team and what we have to do and what we could have done differently."
Wiggins scored 27 points and Towns had 27 points and 12 rebounds for Minnesota (2-1).
Russell Westbrook scored 15 of his 31 points in the fourth quarter for the Thunder (1-2), who were coming off a loss at Utah on Saturday night. Anthony scored 23 points and Steven Adams had 17 points and 13 rebounds.
NETS 116, HAWKS 104
NEW YORK -- Allen Crabbe scored 20 points to help Brooklyn beat Atlanta.
DeMarre Carroll added 17 points and Caris LeVert and D'Angelo Russell each had 16 points. The Nets improved to 2-1 with their second consecutive victory.
Marco Belinelli had 19 points for Atlanta. The Hawks have lost two in a row to drop to 1-2.
PELICANS 119, LAKERS 112
LOS ANGELES -- Anthony Davis scored 27 points, DeMarcus Cousins had 20 and the New Orleans Pelicans withstood a furious rally to beat the Los Angeles Lakers for their first victory of the season.
The Pelicans led by 22 points in the second quarter and were still up by 11 points heading into the fourth, but the Lakers made a charge despite a poor shooting night from rookie Lonzo Ball.
Reserve Jordan Clarkson had 24 points for the Lakers, but Ball shot just 3 for 13 for 8 points.
E'Twaun Moore, who went 0 for 5 in his last game, added 19 points for the Pelicans (1-2), while Jrue Holiday and Ian Clark each had 14.
Sports on 10/23/2017