MEMPHIS -- It seemed like a glaring mismatch in the Minnesota Timberwolves' favor. The league's oldest player was defending one of the NBA's premier young talents in crunch time.
But 39-year-old Vince Carter got the best of Andrew Wiggins, 21.
Wiggins finished with a game-high 25 points, but he didn't score in the fourth quarter until a pair of meaningless free throws with 1.9 seconds left. Give Carter credit, as the old man made things difficult for the young gun down the stretch of the Memphis Grizzlies' 102-98 win over the Timberwolves.
Wiggins managed to get up only two shots from the floor in the fourth quarter. Both were contested misses.
"I was just trying to be in position, contest and be physical," said Carter, who admitted he was mad when Wiggins hit the meaningless free throws because he wanted the individual fourth-quarter shutout.
"I know he jumps a little higher than me now and is a little quicker. It's just, for me, understanding the game plan and making it tough.
"He's going to hit tough shots. We saw that early in the game. I just sat there and watched and figured out how I can play him and make it tough. It worked out for us."
Carter, the Rookie of the Year way back in 1998-99, is probably headed for the Hall of Fame primarily because of his spectacular scoring ability. He ranks 24th on the NBA's all-time scoring list with 23,972 points.
Carter added only three points to that total in the season opener, but he still managed to have the game's best plus-minus, as the Grizzlies outscored the Timberwolves by 10 points in his 28 minutes. That's a testament to how Carter, who playfully pleads for Andre Miller to sign with somebody and reclaim the title of NBA's oldest dude, has redefined himself as a role player in the twilight of his career.
"I'm at a point that I have nothing to prove offensively, but at the same time, I know what I can do offensively," Carter said. "When they need me and the situation calls for it, I'll knock down shots."
On Wednesday night, the situation called for Carter to keep Wiggins, who was 7-of-12 from the floor in the first three quarters, from knocking down shots down the stretch. The graybeard answered the bell.