MINNEAPOLIS -- Even on a night when Carmelo Anthony struggled from the floor, the New York Knicks had confidence in him in the biggest moment.

That's why coach Jeff Hornacek drew up a play to get the ball into Anthony's hands with the score tied on Wednesday night.

With 2.3 seconds remaining, Anthony's jumper over Minnesota Timberwolves guard Andrew Wiggins sealed a 106-104 win for New York.

Anthony was just 4 of 15 from the floor before that shot. That didn't matter after his game-winner -- the 18th time in his career that he has hit the winning shot 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."

The Knicks overcame a career night from Minnesota's Karl-Anthony Towns. The reigning NBA Rookie of the Year scored a career-high 47 points and added 18 points, but it wasn't quite enough for the Timberwolves.

Anthony's game-winner helped the Knicks (9-9) fend off a furious fourth-quarter comeback by the Timberwolves. Minnesota, which trailed by seven after three quarters, tied the score with 24.2 seconds to play before Anthony's jumper.

"That momentum shift is tough to stop," Hornacek said. "Just the confidence in Carmelo being a 10-time All-Star, that's what those guys do."

Knicks forward Kristaps Porzingis scored 29 points and point guard Brandon Jennings provided a spark off the bench with 12 points and seven assists. Anthony and Mindaugas Kuzinskas each added 14 points.

The teams play again in two days on Friday in Madison Square Garden.

Towns 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.

Even after his career night, Towns was hard on himself as his effort came in a loss.

"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."

New York led by as many as 17 points in the fourth quarter before Minnesota tied it at 102 on a 3-pointer by guard Zach LaVine, who was 0 of 4 from long range before that shot. After a basket by Porzingis, the Timberwolves tied it again on two free throws by Towns.

Minnesota (5-13) had one last chance after Anthony's jumper but couldn't get the ball inbounds out of a timeout.

Twenty-two of Towns' points came in an impressive first quarter in which he was 8 of 8 from the floor and 6 of 8 from the free throw line.

Whenever Minnesota attempted to claw its way back through the first three quarters, New York seemed to have an answer.

After Towns scored late in the third quarter to cut the Knicks' lead to 78-74, Jennings responded on New York's next possession with a 3-pointer to stretch the lead once again.

New York used several more 3-pointers to temporarily keep Minnesota at bay. Kuzinskas hit a wide-open shot to extend the Knicks' edge to 91-78 midway through the fourth quarter. Porzingis later hit his third 3-pointer of the night to put New York up by 16.

That deficit was ultimately too much for the young Timberwolves, who had previously suffered from too many games in which they squandered a late lead. On Wednesday night, Minnesota never led by more than three.

"We have to show more determination, more will to guard our men," Timberwolves coach Tom Thibodeau said. "There's no easy way out of this and right now it has to improve. It has to be done a lot harder."

NOTES: Knicks C Joakim Noah (ankle) was ruled out against the Timberwolves. It's the third game this season that Noah has missed because of injury. He's averaging 4 points and 8.4 rebounds per game in his first year with the Knicks. Kyle O'Quinn started at center in Noah's absence. ... Timberwolves G Brandon Rush did not play because of a toe injury. Rush had played in just nine of Minnesota's 17 games this season. ... For the first time in his head coaching career, Minnesota's Tom Thibodeau will be on the opposite bench from Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah. Rose and Noah, both in their first seasons with the Knicks, played for Thibodeau in Chicago from 2010 to 2015. "They play for each other. They play for the team," Thibodeau said of his two former players. "They've been in big games. They've been in tough situations. I think they are team-first guys."