The way Carmelo Anthony was cheered at the Garden on Wednesday night, you would have thought he was still playing for the Knicks.

Anthony, who was the face of the Knicks franchise from 2011-2017, was cheered during the introductions, cheered whenever he touched the ball on the court and was even cheered when he headed for the bench during a substitution.

It got to be a little ridiculous really, especially early on. When Anthony drained a 3-pointer late in the first quarter and started pounding his head with his fingers, the sellout crowd went nuts.

You would have thought Anthony won a championship here or maybe offered to pay off someone’s remaining Christmas bills the way he was being serenaded. But in the midst of the Melo love-fest, the Garden almost missed a special performance by the home team.

By the fourth quarter, the crowd couldn’t help but notice as the Knicks blew open the game behind the spirited play of Mitchell Robinson and Frank Ntilikina and claimed a 117-93 triumph for their third straight win.

“It was a tremendous effort,” said Mike Miller, who is now 6-6 as the Knicks interim head coach. “I can’t come up with the right words how pleased we are watching how that game flowed and how we stayed together. We had so many people contribute in so many different ways. That was fun to watch.”

Robinson was 11-for-11 from the field, many of his baskets coming on lob dunks fed to him by Ntilikina, who had 10 assists. Julius Randle had 22 points and 13 rebounds, while Reggie Bullock added 11 points in his first action of the season.

This was the kind of performance you want to see from the Knicks, who played well on both ends of the floor, especially defensively, where they held Portland to 39.4 percent shooting.

“We have to keep building,” Miller said. “We have to continue to keep putting together that kind of effort and focus and be active on that end. That’s the direction we want to take with that.”

If the Garden brought out the best in Anthony, then Anthony must have brought out the best in the Knicks — especially in the fourth quarter, where they outscored the Blazers 34-16.

“When we get stops, it makes things a lot easier,” Randle said. “It’s trust, too. It’s trusting everybody is going to make the right plays.”

Anthony did his part to play spoiler. He treated the Garden to flashes of vintage Melo, scoring a season-high 26 points on 11-for-17 shooting. He proved he can still score, displaying his full offensive repertoire: draining 3-pointers, mid-range jumpers and turn-around, fade-away floaters from down low.

He earned continued ovations from the crowd with some chanting, “We want Melo.”

“He still scores the ball,” Miller said. “He’s so crafty in how he’s able to score the ball. It’s not just the shooting or the [isolations]; it’s all the things he can do. He’s a high IQ player and playing with other guys that can score, he’s dangerous out there with what he can do.”

The Blazers are happy to have Anthony, who went nearly a year without playing before joining Portland.

“A lot of guys on our team grew up as a big Carmelo Anthony fans,” Portland coach Terry Stotts said. “The professionalism and leadership he’s able to give to our younger guys is as important as what he’s given us on the court.”

Despite the lovefest for Anthony, the Knicks refused to be ignored. They shot 50 percent from the field in the fourth quarter, building as much as a 29-point lead. Ntilikina had four assists and seven of his nine points in the final 12 minutes.

“We just got outplayed,” said Portland guard Damian Lillard, who was held to 11 points on 5-for-20 shooting. “Everything they wanted to do, they did it. They made shots. They got stops. They got foul calls. Whatever they wanted to do, they did it.”

It’s been a while since someone said that about the Knicks. Maybe Anthony should return to the Garden more often.

For more on the Knicks, listen to the latest episode of the “Big Apple Buckets” podcast: