New York Knicks: Amare Punches a Fire Extinguisher, Gets Stitches

After the Knicks lost consecutive games for the first time under Mike Woodson, Stoudemire took out his aggression on the casing of a fire extinguisher at American Airlines Arena.

From Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com:

A frustrated Amare Stoudemire punched glass casing surrounding a fire extinguisher minutes after the New York Knicks’ loss to the Miami Heat, according to a team source. The Knicks power forward suffered lacerations on his left hand which required stitches.

A league source told ESPNNewYork.com that Stoudemire is “almost certain” to miss Game 3 on Thursday in New York and there is a possibility that Stoudemire could miss the rest of the series.

The scene was ugly, as portrayed in the bloodstains Stoudemire left on the carpet. But perhaps this was just what the Knicks needed.

While the power forward’s injury that is likely to sideline him for at least one game cannot be considered a blessing in disguise, it is a wake up call.

Monday, Stoudemire posted 18 points on nine shots. By comparison, Carmelo Anthony scored 30 points on 26 field goal attempts, reverting back to the ineffective selfish version of what we thought was his former self.

No, the loss is not on Anthony, it’s on the entire team. The small forward simply attempted to do too much on his own, seemingly forgetting that he has a superstar sidekick in Stoudemire.

Anthony and Stoudemire have been unable to develop the type of Chemistry LeBron James and Dwyane Wade have, but not because their incapable of doing so. They simply don’t utilize each other enough, and since Anthony, as the point forward, has the ball in hands more often than not, that gets put on him.

But it’s not just him. It’s on both of them. Stoudemire had a right to be frustrated that the Knicks lost, that he only put up nine shots and that his team came out of the gate without any fire. That said, he had every opportunity to reverse those realities. He’s a star, he needs to call for the ball and hold his teammates accountable, not take his anger out on inanimate objects.

It’s sad that it had to come to this, but again, perhaps this is what both Anthony and Stoudemire need.

Anthony has to realize that he’s not better off on his own. The Knicks went 9-4 without Stoudemire and Jeremy Lin, but not all of those games were played against the Heat. Without Stoudemire on the floor against the league’s best, perhaps Anthony will see he needs that second prolific option.

And as for Stoudemire, he has to understand that acknowledging this is Anthony’s offense does not mean remaining idle. He has to make opportunities come his way, call his teammates out for not finding him on pick-and-rolls, and most importantly, he has to commit to defense.

The Knicks are unlikely to come back from this 2-0 deficit, but for the sake of the future, they must take Stoudemire’s and Anthony’s ignorance, and learn from it. This team is too talented to go down without a real fight, yet that’s just what their poised to do.

Having New York’s two superstars spend more time apart is far from ideal, but after getting their asses handed to them, both together and separately, maybe something will finally click. Maybe Anthony and Stoudemire will commit to one another the way they claim their committed to winning.

And maybe, just maybe, they’ll learn to play this beautiful game of basketball as men.