Timberwolves 95, Knicks 92 (OT)

Zach LaVine concentrated on nothing but making his free throws. Let others worry about pingpong balls and mathematical odds.

LaVine made the tying and go-ahead free throws with 10.7 seconds left and scored six of his 20 points in overtime as Minnesota outlasted New York on Thursday night in a matchup of the NBA’s biggest losers.

Minnesota (15-53) ended a six-game losing streak and snapped a tie with the Knicks (14-54) for the NBA’s worst record. New York can still win for losing, and now has pole position in the race for the No. 1 draft pick.

“We don’t look at it that way,” LaVine said. “We look at it as a game and we want to be better than that team, so don’t matter if it’s first or last place, we’re going to play the same way.”

Kevin Martin scored 22 points and Andrew Wiggins had 20 for Minnesota despite shooting 4 for 17 from the field. Gorgui Dieng finished with 19 points and 11 rebounds, and his blocked shot triggered the fast break that set up LaVine’s free throws.

Langston Galloway scored 21 points and Alexey Shved had 20 for the Knicks, who couldn’t make it two wins in a row in OT after surprising San Antonio on Tuesday.

The Wolves won for the second time in 12 games, despite having eight players on the injury list, leaving them so short-handed that they had to sign Sean Kilpatrick from Delaware of the NBA Development League just to field the mandated league minimum of eight active players.

New York led by one when Dieng blocked Shved’s shot. LaVine rushed up the court and was fouled, making two for a 93-92 lead. Shved missed again and LaVine added two more free throws with 1.6 seconds remaining before Andrea Bargnani missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer.

“We didn’t make shots toward the end,” Galloway said. “I mean, they made a couple of baskets and we’re just learning still with overtime and down the stretch.”

Ricky Rubio (sore right ankle) rejoined an injured list that already included Kevin Garnett, Nikola Pekovic and many others. The Wolves needed eight players in uniform so signed Kilpatrick to a 10-day contract, in part because he was close enough that he could get to Madison Square Garden in time. He arrived in the Minnesota locker room about 45 minutes before the start after driving from Delaware.

The Knicks, also short-handed, signed guard Ricky Ledo from the Texas Legends of the NBA D-League on Thursday.

Though not well played, it was a compelling finish to a game that both teams had incentive to lose.

The team with the worst record gets a 25 percent chance to win the No. 1 pick through the draft lottery, while the second-worst team’s odds are just below 20 percent.

But both coaches said their teams would play to win. The Timberwolves have a history of being unlucky in the lottery, so Minnesota’s Flip Saunders said no one would tank for draft positioning no matter how much they may want the pick.

“You can’t do that, because everything in this league is all based on, it’s the lottery. It’s called luck, so what you do is you go out to play and you try to do that for respect of the game,” said Saunders, also the team president.

Rockets 118, Nuggets 108

James Harden scored a career-high 50 points with 10 rebounds to lead the Houston to a win over Denver.

Harden eclipsed his previous career-best of 46, set in 2013, on a free throw with about a minute remaining. On Houston’s next possession, Trevor Ariza found him in the corner and he swished a 3 under heavy pressure, to make it 50.

Six straight points by the Nuggets cut the lead to 8 with about five minutes left when the Rockets made the next five points, capped by a step back jump shot from Harden, to make it 104-91. Harden scored seven points after that to secure the victory.

It was the 29th game Harden had at least 30 points.

Suns 74, Pelicans 72

Brandan Wright scored 16 points and matched his career high with seven blocked shots, helping Phoenix to a sluggish, cold-shooting victory over New Orleans playing without star Anthony Davis.

Davis rolled his left ankle in the team’s shootaround and his availability for the game at Golden State Friday was uncertain.

The loss dropped New Orleans a game behind Oklahoma City for the eighth playoff spot in the West. Phoenix is 2½ behind Oklahoma City and 1½ behind the Pelicans.

Eric Gordon scored 14 for the Pelicans.

Jazz 80, Lakers 73

Gordon Hayward scored 22 points, Trey Burke added 17 off the bench, and Utah sent Los Angeles to its 50th loss of the season.

The Jazz, coming off an 88-84 loss against that Washington that ended a season-best six-game winning streak, are 12-2 since the All-Star break.

The loss was the fourth in a row for the lottery-bound Lakers, who have dropped 25 of their last 30.

Wesley Johnson had 12 points to lead the Lakers.

They reached the 50-loss mark for the second straight season and only the fifth in the franchise’s 67-year history. That compares to 32 seasons with 50 or more victories and 16 NBA championships.