Stoudemire’s temper may cost him the playoffs
Amar’e Stoudemire’s season may be over and, as a result, the Knicks’ season might not be too far behind.
While storming off the court following a 104-94 loss in Game 2 in Miami, which dropped the Knicks to 0-2 in this best-of-seven first round series, Stoudemire apparently slammed a fire extinguisher case with his left hand. He suffered a laceration, according to the team, and had to be treated by paramedics at American Airlines Arena.
Though the team did not offer any further reports, rumors abounded from several media outlets that he is expected to miss Game 3 on Thursday at Madison Square Garden and he could be out for the rest of the series as a result of the injuries sustained.
“I’m so mad at myself right now, I want to apologize to the fans and my team,” Stoudemire posted on his Twitter account hours after the game. “Not proud of my actions, headed home for a new start.”
The Knicks have enough deficiencies in this series, without a healthy point guard to run the offense (Jeremy Lin is still recovering from knee surgery) and without their best perimeter defender (Iman Shumpert suffered an ACL tear in Game 1), along with the fact that center Tyson Chandler has been battling a flu. If they lose Stoudemire, their chances to avoid a sweep for a second straight year are slim.
“I’m not going to comment until I hear or see what’s going on,” interim coach Mike Woodson said in the wake of the bizarre scene in the Knicks locker room. “How severe it is, I don’t know. That’s all I’m going to say.”
If Stoudemire does miss Game 3, it would be expected that Carmelo Anthony (30 points in Game 2) would move back to the power forward position, where he thrived in Stoudemire’s absence through most of April. But this isn’t any time for finding a positive in losing an All-Star caliber player, though Stoudemire (18 points, seven rebounds in Game 2) was not playing at that level so far in the series.
His ill-advised show of emotion after a game in which the Knicks battled to stay within reach — a far cry from the 33-point defeat in Game 1 — dampened the mood in the Knicks locker room and made the flight home to New York a lot less optimistic as the series switches to Madison Square Garden.
“It’s tough,” Chandler said. “Your emotions run high. A split-second decision can obviously alter things, and you can’t fault anybody. Amar’e is a person that has high emotions at times, so one quick decision-making mistake, and now you’ve got to deal with the repercussions.”
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