With Chauney Billups out with a bad left knee and Amar’e Stoudemire playing limited minutes due to back spasms, Carmelo Anthony poured in 42 points and grabbed 17 rebounds in Tuesday night’s Game 2 defeat for the Knicks at the hands of the Celtics. The outcome may have been different for New York if Amare’s back didn’t act up they’ll have to wait until Friday’s Game 3 to find out. Amar’e expects to be back by then…
Amare Stoudemire expects to be ready for the New York Knicks’ next playoff game after back spasms sidelined him for the entire second half of their 96-93 loss on Tuesday night that gave the Boston Celtics a 2-0 lead.
“I should be ready for Game 3,” he said after the game, standing instead of sitting behind the podium at his postgame news conference. “We’ll see how it goes [Wednesday] and next day, but I’m pretty sure — I’m hoping — I’ll be ready Friday.”
Stoudemire said he believed he hurt himself during pregame warmups.
“I couldn’t hardly move. I was trying to play through it,” he said. “Once I felt that sharp pain, I couldn’t take it.”
Game 3 of the best-of-seven Eastern Conference first-round series is set for Friday night in New York.
“He should be OK Friday. … He just felt a little twinge,” coach Mike D’Antoni said.
Read more about Amare’s condition on ESPN.com
