HOOPSWORLD | Basketball News & NBA Rumors

by Jeff Zillgitt, USA TODAY Sports

This is not the way the New York Knicks wanted to start the 2012-13 season, with forward Amar’e Stoudemire sidelined two to three weeks with a ruptured cyst behind his left knee.

The issue was discovered after an MRI in New York on Sunday morning. Knicks coach Mike Woodson told news reporters that Stoudemire is “frustrated.”

Stoudemire missed the Knicks’ first two preseason games with a bruised left knee and made his debut Friday in Montreal against the Toronto Raptors, scoring 18 points on 8-of-11 shooting from the field and 2-of-2 from the foul line in New York’s 107-88 loss.

He sat out Saturday’s 109-98 loss to the Boston Celtics in Albany, N.Y.

The popliteal cyst, also known as a Baker’s cyst, is a “fluid-filled cyst that causes a bulge and a feeling of tightness behind your knee” and “usually the result of a problem with your knee joint such as arthritis,” according to www.mayoclinic.com.

Stoudemire worked on his offensive moves with Hall of Fame center Hakeem Olajuwon during the offseason, but he won’t get to show those off in the much-anticipated season opener against the Brooklyn Nets on Nov. 1 or in the Knicks’ home opener against the Miami Heat on Nov. 2.

Stoudemire, who had microfracture surgery on his left knee in 2005, missed 15 games because of injuries last season – two with a sprained ankle, 13 with a bulging disc.

See more injured NBA stars in this photo gallery:

The injury bug has hit the team. Shooting guard Ronnie Brewer practiced for the first time last week since undergoing surgery on a torn meniscus in his right knee in early September. Shooting guard J.R. Smith (injured left foot) did not travel with the team on its three-game road trip.

With Stoudemire out for at least the opening week of the regular season, Carmelo Anthony could start at power forward in a smaller Knicks lineup. Against bigger lineups, Anthony would start at small forward and 40-year-old Kurt Thomas could start at power forward.

Injuries to big men around league are mounting:

Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki underwent surgery on his right knee Friday and is expected … [For more on Knicks forward Amar'e Stoudemire to miss season opener, click here.]