Victor Wembaneyama played the role of the Grinch all the way to the tee for three and a half quarters.
The 7-foot-3 prodigy terrified the Knicks and their fans and threatened to ruin a merry Christmas at the Garden.
Mikal Bridges, one of the Knicks' newest additions, won't allow that. The old Nets delayed all big shots, and the Knicks locked up Wenbang Yama in the count, rallying from an eight-point deficit in the fourth quarter for a thrilling 117-114 holiday victory.
Bridges has been playing at a high level for some time after struggling early in the season, but this time was different. This was great. This was a clutch. This was Bridges' first true MSG moment.
Bridges scored a career-high 41 points for the Knicks on 17-of-25 shooting, and Josh Hart clinched the victory with two clutch offensive rebounds in the final seconds.
Wenbanyama had 42 points, 18 rebounds, 4 assists, and 4 blocks.
Karl-Anthony Towns had 21 points and nine rebounds, and Jalen Brunson had 20 points and nine assists.
Josh Hart had six points, 12 rebounds and six assists, and the Knicks improved to 20-10, winning their fifth straight game.
Bridges scored 15 points in the final quarter, and the Knicks, led by OG Anunoby, held Wembangyama scoreless until the final 7:44.
Wenbanyama took control in the first half, surprising the crowd with his length, incredible athleticism, and ability to play both in the paint and on the perimeter.
He sank four 3-pointers, grabbed rebounds that seemed out of reach, and found teammates for dunks.
He had 24 points, 11 rebounds and four assists in a dynamic opening 24 minutes.
The Spurs held a seven-point lead going into the break, and the Knicks felt lucky to be that close.
They missed 15 of their first 16 3-pointers and made 4 of 21 by halftime.
Bridges took on the offensive role, scoring 16 points on 7-of-9 shooting. The rest of the Knicks were 13-of-42 from the field.
On this day, Wenbanyama averaged 7.2 rejections in the past four games, and although he only had 2 rejections in the first half, he changed a huge number of rejections.
The Knicks played his way by acquiring too many long jumpers.
They attacked Wenbanyama more aggressively in the third quarter.
Towns put his body on the line against Wenbanyama and took the lead. After a 15-6 run to start the period, Towns scored 11 points, culminating with a 3-pointer off the French phenom.
The Knicks went on another 12-3 burst to end the third quarter, taking advantage of the Spurs' openings in the paint without Wenbanyama.
After taking a five-point lead into the final period, the team dominated in the period, scoring 37 points on 51.8 percent shooting (14-of-27), with Bridges and Brunson combining for 21 points. .
But Spurs hit back behind Wembang Yama. In an 18-6 run, he scored 11 points, including an alley-oop layup. On this layup, he reversed the ball even though the pass from behind sent him under the basket.
