For three-and-a-half quarters, Victor Wembanyama played the role of the Grinch to a tee.
The 7-foot-3 wunderkind scared the Knicks and their fans, threatening to ruin a festive Christmas at the Garden.
One of the newest Knicks, Mikal Bridges, wouldn’t allow it. The former Net made all the big shots late and the Knicks locked up Wembanyama when it counted, rallying from down eight in the fourth quarter for a thrilling 117-114 holiday victory.
Bridges has played at a high level for a while now after some early-season struggles, but this was different. This was brilliant. This was clutch. This was Bridges’ first true MSG moment.
Bridges poured in a Knicks career-high 41 points on 17 of 25 shooting and Josh Hart came up with two clutch offensive rebounds in the final seconds to ice the victory.
Wembanyama finished with 42 points, 18 rebounds, four assists and four blocks.
Karl-Anthony Towns had 21 points and nine rebounds and Jalen Brunson tallied 20 and nine assists.
Josh Hart had six points, 12 rebounds and six assists as the Knicks improved to 20-10 and won for their fifth straight.
Bridges had 15 points in the final quarter and the Knicks, led by OG Anunoby, held Wembanyama scoreless over the final 7:44.
Wembanyama owned the first half, dazzling the crowd with his length, absurd athleticism and ability to play both in the paint and on the perimeter.
He sank four 3-pointers, grabbed rebounds that looked to be well beyond his reach, found teammates for dunks.
He scored 24 points, added 11 rebounds and tallied four assists in a dynamic opening 24 minutes.
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The Spurs took a seven-point lead into the break, and the Knicks felt fortunate to be that close.
They missed 15 of their first 16 3-point attempts and were 4 of 21 at halftime.
Bridges carried the load offensively, scoring 16 points on 7-of-9 shooting. The other Knicks were 13-of-42 from the field.
Wembanyama entered the day averaging 7.2 rejections in his last four games, and while he only had two in the first half, he altered so many.
The Knicks played into his hands by settling for too many long jumpers.
They came out for the third quarter more aggressive, attacking Wembanyama.
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Towns led the way, using his body against Wembanyama. In a 15-6 run to start the period, Towns scored 11 points, capping it with a 3-pointer over the French phenom.
The Knicks ripped off another 12-3 burst to end the third quarter, taking advantage of the Spurs in the paint with Wembanyama out.
They took a five-point lead into the final stanza and were dominant in the period, putting up 37 points on 51.8 percent (14-of-27) shooting with Bridges and Brunson combining for 21 points.
The Spurs, however, responded behind Wembanyama. In a 18-6 run, he scored 11 points, including an alley-oop layup in which he flipped the ball in despite his momentum carrying him under the basket on a pass that was behind him.
