The Unthinkable:  The New York Knicks dropped their second game to the Miami HEAT last night losing 104-94, and just when it seemed it could not get any worse, paramedics were rushed into the Knicks lockerroom.

Knicks forward Amar’e Stoudemire, in a fit of rage, punched a glass enclosed fire extinguisher case, severely cutting and damaging his hand, requiring several stitches.

Stoudemire is now likely done for the season.

Amar’e did not address reporters last night, but did turn to Twitter to express his anger with himself.

His Knicks teammates were in shock after the incident, with most trying to avoid commenting on the situation.

Knicks’ forward Carmelo Anthony did his best to deflect questions, but the gravity of the situation is undeniable.

“I don’t know what happened,” Anthony said. “I really don’t know where his situation is at. I don’t know.”

“It’s a tough situation,” Anthony said. “It seems like it’s always something happening — snake bit.”

“We will have to deal with it.” Anthony said. “Nobody wants to lose. As one of the leaders of this team. I got to keep everybody positive. I got to keep everybody confident.”

With Stoudemire’s status clearly in doubt, the Knicks head home to New York for Game 3 at Madison Square Garden down 2-0 to the HEAT. Climbing back into the series will be tougher for sure.

“He’s probably going to be out,” Knicks center Tyson Chandler told reporters. “I don’t know how bad it is. … Your emotions run high. In a split second, a decision can alter things. You can’t fault anybody. We’ve got to deal with the repercussions.”

“I saw a lot of blood, I’m squeamish so I got out of there,” one Knicks player told Marc Berman of the New York Post. “He punched it. I don’t know if it was open hand or not.”

“It’s crazy,” Steve Novak said. “It’s like I feel awful for Stat because he plays with emotion and you’re walking in a hallway and I don’t think he ever thought for a second that it was gonna be glass, that it was gonna shatter.’

Game 3 is set for Thursday at 7:00pm EST. Game 4 is set for Sunday at 3:30pm EST.

There is an upside… The Knicks went on a fairly impressive run without Amar’e Stoudemire in April, so the season may not be completely lost, but there is no doubting that things just got harder for the Knicks.

Let’s Talk Lottery:  The NBA will hold the official Draft Lottery on May 30th, so until then the order of the first 14 picks is still very fluid. However with the regular season locked in, let’s take a look at how the lottery portion of the draft could play out.

Look for the annual Consensus Mock Drafts to get underway on Friday. Four HOOPSWORLD writers will give their view of the Draft landscape each Friday with news and notes about the process.

The first Consensus Mock will be Friday the 4th.

Checking In On Howard:  If you think that Orlando Magic star Dwight Howard has checked out on his Magic teammates you are mistaken. Howard has become the biggest Magic cheerleader on the planet constantly texting and talking to his guys from Los Angeles where he’s been instructed to stay by the doctors who performed his back procedure.

Magic president Otis Smith is expected to stop in on Howard today to give support to his embattled center according to CEO Alex Martins.

“The intent is to check in, see how he’s doing, both from his rehab as well as his spirits, to see him in-person,” Martins said to Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel.

“We’ve been communicating with him via phone and text, but it’s just an opportunity for us to see how he’s doing.”

Smith is expected to spend less than 24 hours in L.A. and then return for Game 3 Wednesday.

“They’re all my kids,” Smith said to Robbins. “I’ve got one of them that’s not with the team, that you want to have with the team that’s injured, that’s down. So you’ve got to go see him. You’ve got to pep him up a little bit and tell him he’s doing the right thing by his body.

“He can’t travel and he can’t do much,” Smith added. “His doctor’s orders and pretty much our orders are to get his back right. He can’t do anything for anybody at this point in time, so he has to get right.”

Sources close to the process say Howard has been trying to convince his Doctors to clear him to fly to Orlando for Game 3 on Wednesday however it’s unclear whether he will be cleared to fly.

Howard has told more than a few guys in the Magic locker room that he desperately wants to be there, so it will be interesting to see how this plays out.

It’s Not The Schedule:  Occasionally you hear something in the media that just so inaccurate that you have to shake your head at it.

The idea that the shortened NBA season has contributed to the rash of injuries as of late is almost lunacy. It is selective commentary that is not originating from an informed place.

The “compressed” part of the 2011-2012 season came in the first two months of the season… the last two months have been somewhat normal.

Have players logged more miles on their bodies with less rest days – sure. But what’s not being accounted for is the radical reduction in practice days and off time teams have given their guys to compensate.

Did NBA Players play more game minutes in a shorter span than normal – yes, but they did so at the expense of hours of practice time, a shorter training camp and pre-season.

However a lot of that normalized after the All-Star break.

Take a look at the schedule.

The Celtics played 32 games in final 56 days of the season from March 1st to April 26th. That comes out to .574 games per day. In 2010 they had 24 games in 43 days March 1st to April 13th or .558 games per day.

The Warriors had 34 games in 56 days or .607 games per day. In 2010 they had 24 games in 43 days or .558 games per day.

The Cavs in 2011-2012 had 33 games in 56 days (.589 games per day) vs. 23 games in 43 days (.534 games per day) in 2010-2011.

The Grizzlies in 2011-2012 had 31 games in 56 days (.553 games per day) vs. 21 games in 43 days (.488 games per day) in 2010-2011.

Injuries happen. Blaming the schedule or the compressed nature of it is selective commentary.

Over the last two months there has not been nearly as many games per day as there were in the first two months and when you back out practice days and two-a-day training camp days the actual miles NBA players put on is substantially less.

Teams tried to compensate. Especially contenders that expect to play late into June.

Could the compressed schedule have contributed to a players’ eventual injury – sure, but to blame the injuries on the schedule overlooks the fact that the last part of the schedule since the All-Star break has been a lot more normal than anyone is admitting.

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NBA Chats: There are three NBA chats scheduled for today starting with HOOPSWORLD’s Anthony Macri at 11am. Coach Macri works with NBA players year around with developing and improving their games and will do his best to answer your questions. Senior NBA writer Eric Pincus will hold down his weekly NBA chat at 4pm EST. Eric covers the Western Conference from LA with the Lakers and the Clippers. Stephen Litel will wrap up the day with his weekly NBA Chat at 8pm EST. You can always find the next upcoming chat here: Upcoming NBA Chats. If you are looking for a completed chat, check the Chat Archive.