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NEW YORK -- Carmelo Anthony popped in 29 points and Kyle O'Quinn posted his first double-double of the season to lead the New York Knicks to a 118-114 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday night at Madison Square Garden. The Knicks (10-9) swept the home-and-home series. New York claimed a 106-104 win at Minnesota on Wednesday.
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O'Quinn, starting at center in place of injured Joakim Noah, had 20 points, 13 rebounds and two blocked shots. Justin Holiday, making his first start at point guard for injured Courtney Lee, added 16 points and seven rebounds. Derrick Rose chipped in with 24 points.
Zach LaVine led Minnesota (5-14) with 23 points. Karl-Anthony Towns, who scored 47 points against the Knicks on Wednesday, tossed in 20 points.
The Timberwolves, who led just once, missed all seven of their shots from the field in a 3:30 span that ended with 29 seconds left to play on a 3-pointer from Nemanja Bjelica, who had 17 points in 20 minutes.
A steal and fast-break basket by Anthony pushed the Knicks' lead to 112-106 with 1:21 left.
The Timberwolves missed all seven of their shots from the floor in a 3:30 span that ended with 29 seconds left.
O'Quinn and Rose deposited four straight points each, helping the Knicks regain the lead at 109-104 with 4:31 to play.
Minnesota took its first lead of the game at 102-101 on a dunk shot from LaVine with 6:34 remaining.
A 9-2 run to start the fourth quarter enabled Minnesota to tie it at 100 on an alley-oop dunk by Shabazz Muhammad with 8:01 left.
After a sluggish first half, Towns erupted for 16 points in the third quarter, but New York maintained a 98-88 lead.
A block by Kristaps Porzingis led to a 3-pointer from Anthony and an 80-66 Knicks lead with 6:05 left in the third quarter.
Anthony and O'Quinn combined for 14 of the Knicks' 32 second-quarter points, helping New York build a 62-52 halftime edge.
Towns didn't score his first basket until 1:18 to go before the half.
Back-to-back 3-pointers from Anthony put the Knicks ahead 48-36 with 5:12 left in the second quarter.
The Knicks used a 15-3 burst midway through the first quarter to extend their lead to 23-8 en route to a 30-21 lead moving into the second quarter.
Towns was 8 of 8 from the floor in the first quarter when the teams met Wednesday but failed to hit any of his six shots in the first quarter in the rematch.
NOTES: Knicks PG Courtney Lee was out with a sprained left ankle. He was replaced in the starting lineup by Justin Holiday, who made his first start of the season. ... New York C Joakim Noah missed his second straight game with a sprained left ankle. Kyle O'Quinn started in his place. ... Minnesota C Karl-Anthony Towns became the fourth youngest player in league history to score at least 47 points when he achieved the milestone in Wednesday's 106-104 loss to the Knicks. ... Minnesota head Tom Thibodeau was an assistant coach with the Knicks from 1996 to 2003. ... New York's bench outscored the Timberwolves' bench 49-5 on Wednesday.
