NEW ORLEANS -- For most of the season, Minnesota Timberwolves interim coach Sam Mitchell has been forced to endure a litany of blown double-digit leads and youthful mistakes from a group of talented but inexperienced 20-somethings.

But when it mattered most Saturday night, Mitchell saw his rising stars come through, erasing a 14-point deficit in the final 15 1/2 minutes to defeat the New Orleans Pelicans 112-110 at the Smoothie King Center for only their ninth road win of the season.

With the score tied at 110 with 12.2 seconds left, Minnesota guard Andrew Wiggins dribbled into the lane from the top of the key, drew a blocking foul against New Orleans guard Eric Gordon and hit two free throws with 3.6 seconds remaining for the win.

"We've been in a lot of games -- a lot of three-, four-, five-point games," Mitchell said. "It's just great experience for us to be in these types of games and learning how to execute and learning how to make plays. It's just a great win for us."

On the winning play, Wiggins got the ball up top from guard Zach LaVine and was head-to-head against Pelicans forward Dante Cunningham. When Cunningham crowded Wiggins, the second-year guard penetrated into the lane and tried to dunk over Gordon, who slid over at the last second in an attempt to draw a charge.

The officials reviewed the collision and confirmed Gordon's blocking foul.

"I was kind of far from the basket and my defender picked me up kind of close," said Wiggins, who scored 20 points. "My first instinct was 'just drive' because I didn't think he could stay in front of me that far from the basket. I didn't see no one in there, but Gordon came in at the last second, and that's when I tried to dunk it."

On the Timberwolves' bench, veteran forward Kevin Garnett, sidelined with a sore knee, told Wiggins to take two deep breaths. Wiggins drained both foul shots.

"He said it takes out all the nervous energy and makes you calm, so I've been using it," Wiggins said.

The Timberwolves (19-40) were led by center Karl-Anthony Towns with 30 points and 15 rebounds and LaVine with 25 points.

The Pelicans (23-35) got 31 points each from forward Ryan Anderson, who started in place of leading scorer and rebounder Anthony Davis, and Gordon, who had missed 16 consecutive games with a broken finger on his shooting hand.

Davis sustained a freak injury in pregame warm-ups, spraining his big right toe. The Pelicans list him as day to day.

"I don't think it's going to be one of those deals where he's 100 percent, but more than likely we'll rest him and I'm assuming he'll be able to play in the next couple of days," New Orleans coach Alvin Gentry said. "I'm not quite sure the extent of it or how it will affect him, but we expect him to come back and play."

The Timberwolves trailed 74-60 with 3:35 left in the third quarter but chipped the deficit to 86-76 entering the fourth quarter. They used a 28-17 run in the first 9:17 of the fourth quarter to take a 104-103 lead.

LaVine hit a go-ahead 3-pointer from the left wing with 2:43 remaining, giving him nine points during the run.

Gordon tied the score at 106 with a 3-pointer from the left wing and then put New Orleans back in front at 108-106 with two free throws. But Wiggins drove to the basket and made both free throws to tie the score at 108.

Forward Gorgui Dieng then hit a driving layup with 24.5 seconds left to put Minnesota ahead 110-108.

Gordon, who totaled 31 points for New Orleans, tied the game again at 110 with two foul shots at 12.2 seconds, setting up the final sequence in which Wiggins drove to the basket and got the foul against Gordon.

The Pelicans allowed 36 fourth-quarter points and committed four costly turnovers.

"It was the turnovers," Gordon said. "That's how they got a lot of fast-break points in the fourth quarter. When you do that, you give them pretty good shots at the rim."

NOTES: F Anthony Davis, the Pelicans' leading scorer (24.1 ppg) and rebounder (10.2 rpg), sprained his right big toe in pre-game warmups and was scratched from the lineup against the Timberwolves. He is listed as day to day. Davis has played in 51 of 58 games this season but has been limited in five other games because of in-game injuries. ... SG Eric Gordon returned to the New Orleans lineup after missing the last 16 games with a broken ring finger on his right (shooting) hand. "The one thing is that because it was his hand, he's been able to, cardio-wise, kind of stay up," Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry said. "But I expect him to be a little rusty." ... Minnesota coach Sam Mitchell said he was happy that veteran G Andre Miller cleared waivers and is headed to San Antonio. "Andre's been great," Mitchell said. "At this point in the season, Andre has a chance to sign with a great team like San Antonio that's going to go deep into the playoffs and have a chance to win a championship. I'm excited for Andre and happy for him."