May 1, 12:37 am: Amare Stoudemire tweeted this:
April 30, 11:01 pm: This is the most intensity Amare Stoudemire has shown all playoffs.
Frustrated after he seemed to stand around all game watching the offense run through Carmelo Anthony on the way to another Knicks playoff loss, Amare Stoudemire punched a glass-encased fire extinguisher on his way back to the locker room, sources told Ken Berger of CBSSports.com, as well as other reports on twitter. That led to lacerations on his hand that needed to be stitched up, according to multiple reports.
There was a busted up fire extinguisher case near the Knicks locker room. The Knicks confirmed Stoudemire hurt himself after the game but no details. We don’t know if this was a “classic” punch or just him slamming the side of his hand into the extinguisher case in frustration as he walked past.
What we do know is that there was a lot of blood, paramedics put some stitches into Stoudemire’s left hand (we don’t know how many) and he left the arena with his hand in a bandage and his arm in a sling. He is not getting X-rays (yet) and he is leaving New York with the team.
His status for Game 3 Thursday is currently unknown.
Coach Mike Woodson as well as Carmelo Anthony both said they did not know what happened or have any updates on Stoudemire.
The Knicks should be frustrated. But while Stoudemire has not played great this series he is a threat and if he is out it allows the Heat to turn their focus more toward Anthony and other Knicks threats. Basically, this isn’t good.
