For three and a half quarters, Victor Wembanyama played the role of the Grinch to the tee.

The 7-foot-3 prodigy frightened the Knicks and their fans and threatened 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 shut down Wembanyama when it mattered most, rallying from a fourth-quarter deficit of eight for a thrilling 117-114 holiday win.

Bridges has been playing at a high level for some time after some struggles early in the season, but this was different. That was brilliant. That was clutch. This was Bridges’ first real MSG moment.

Bridges scored a career-high 41 points on 17 of 25 shooting for the Knicks, and Josh Hart grabbed two offensive rebounds in the final seconds to secure the win.

Wembanyama finished the game with 42 points, 18 rebounds, four assists and four blocks.

Karl-Anthony Towns had 21 points and nine rebounds and Jalen Brunson had 20 and nine assists.

Josh Hart had six points, 12 rebounds and six assists as the Knicks improved to 20-10 and won for the fifth straight season.

Bridges had 15 points in the final quarter and the Knicks, led by OG Anunoby, held Wembanyama scoreless for 7:44 of the final quarter.

Wembanyama was in control of the first half, stunning the crowd with his length, absurd athleticism and ability to play both in and out of the touchline.

He sank four 3-pointers, grabbed rebounds that seemed far out of reach and found teammates for dunks.

In a dynamic first 24 minutes, he scored 24 points, added 11 rebounds and recorded four assists.

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The Spurs had a seven-point lead at halftime, and the Knicks were lucky to be so 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 started the day averaging 7.2 rejections in his last four games, and although he only had two in the first half, he changed that many.

The Knicks played into his hands by settling for too many long jumpers.

In the third quarter they acted more aggressively and attacked Wembanyama.

Towns went ahead and used his body against Wembanyama. In a 15-6 run to start the period, Towns scored 11 points and capped it off with a 3-point lead over the French phenom.

The Knicks scored another 12-3 win at the end of the third quarter, taking advantage of the Spurs throwing Wembanyama from the field.

They took a five-point lead in the final stanza and were dominant in that period, scoring 37 points on 51.8 percent shooting (14 of 27), with Bridges and Brunson combining for 21 points.

However, Spurs responded behind Wembanyama. He scored 11 points in an 18-6 run, including an alley-oop layup in which he punched the ball in even though his momentum carried him under the basket on a pass behind him.