MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Less than five minutes into his first game as an NBA head coach on Wednesday, the Memphis Grizzlies' David Fizdale was using his second timeout.

The Grizzlies trailed the Minnesota Timberwolves by 17 and a blowout loss seemed more than possible in the season opener at FedExForum.

After the Grizzlies had rallied for a 102-98 victory, Fizdale admitted, "I was squirming on the inside."

But he didn't show it. He didn't even pull any of his starters during that timeout.

"That gave me confidence," said Memphis forward JaMychal Green, who scored 12 points.

That showed up later. Still down nine points at halftime, Memphis opened the second half on a 16-2 run to go up 66-61. But the play of the game was a tip-in from Green off Andrew Harrison's missed free throw with 1:35 left. That gave Memphis a 94-93 lead it did not relinquish.

Green followed that a few seconds later with a block of Minnesota center Karl-Anthony Towns (21 points).

"That play won the game," said Memphis center Marc Gasol, who scored 18 points.

Point guard Mike Conley led Memphis with 24 points and was 4 of 5 from 3-point range. Memphis shot 45.8 percent from behind the arc, hitting 11 of 24 shots.

"I like the way we started the game," said Timberwolves coach Tom Thibodeau, who was making his debut with Minnesota after five seasons coaching the Chicago Bulls. "I thought we lost our discipline in covering the (3-point) line. No lead is safe."

Minnesota guard Zach LaVine scored 19 points and hit a 3-pointer with 14 seconds left to close the gap to 98-96. But the Timberwolves could not get closer as Conley and Green sealed the win for Memphis at the foul line.

Timberwolves forward Andrew Wiggins led all scorers with 25 points and added seven rebounds.

Towns said the Timberwolves let the game get away.

"This is a hard loss," he said. "We got to learn from these games. Early on, we felt like we had our swagger, and this humbles us."

Zach Randolph posted 19 points and 11 rebounds off the bench for Memphis. Forward James Ennis contributed 15 points and six rebounds, and rookie point guard Wade Baldwin finished with seven points, six assists, five rebounds, three steals, three blocks and just one turnover off the bench.

The Grizzlies were just 1-14 in home openers before Wednesday night.

"That was real fun," Randolph said. "The young guys came in and made good plays. With us (Gasol and Conley), and the things we've been through and the confidence we've got playing together, I don't expect anything less (than coming back and winning)."

Randolph got the Grizzlies going in the fourth quarter, scoring the Grizzlies' first nine points. Not until Harrison made a free throw at 5:52 for an 86-85 lead did another Memphis player score.

Harrison, a rookie, played a game-high 38 minutes. He scored just four points on 1-of-7 shooting, but he still got rave reviews from his coach.

"Andrew Harrison's line doesn't show it, but, man, he made it tough on LaVine," Fizdale said. "And that kid's a player. It was hard to take Andrew off of him for that reason."

Memphis shot 45 percent and the Timberwolves shot 41.9 percent, just 33.3 percent from deep (6 of 18).

The Timberwolves also were just 20 of 29 (69 percent) from the foul line. Each team had 45 rebounds.

"The game was in the balance and we gave a couple of offensive rebounds, or free-throw rebounds, so we'll have to correct that," Thibodeau said. "Missing free throws, that's part of it, but we have to understand what it's going to be like at the end of the game. When on the road on a free-throw rebound, you can't look for the referee to bail you out. It's going to be physical and it is what it is."

NOTES: The Grizzlies set an NBA record last year when injuries hobbled them to the point that 28 players got time on their roster. On Wednesday night they started the season with free-agent signee Chandler Parsons out as he continues recovering from a second knee surgery, and swingman Tony Allen was out with a sore right knee. ... Minnesota coach Tom Thibodeau made his debut with the Timberwolves after going 255-139 in five seasons with the Chicago Bulls. ... Minnesota C Karl-Anthony Towns was a unanimous choice as NBA Rookie of the Year in 2015-16, when he averaged 18.3 points, 10.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.68 blocks.