The Knicks could be without star forward Amare Stoudemire for Game 3 against the Heat. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)
It went from bad to worse for the New York Knicks on Monday night, and it brought a whole new meaning to the warning sign that says “Break Glass In Case Of Emergency.”
Moments after dropping to an 0-2 hole in their first-round Eastern Conference playoff series with the Miami Heat, Knicks forward Amare Stoudemire reportedly cut his left hand while punching a fire extinguisher case in the locker room.
Marc Spears of Yahoo! Sports wrote that paramedics and team doctors from the Knicks and Heat were immediately called to the locker room. Blood was visible on the carpet when the locker room doors opened for reporters. Stoudemire reportedly received stitches and eventually left the arena with his left hand bandaged and his arm in a sling. If you’re a Knicks fan, that’s not exactly the image you want to see. The Knicks are already having a hard time scoring against the Heat defense with Stoudemire in the lineup, and now it’ll only get harder.
Stoudemire later apologize for his actions through his Twitter account. He wrote: ”I am so mad at myself right now, I want to apologize to the fans and my team, not proud of my actions, headed home for a new start.”
Well, the good news is Stoudemire is not too hurt to tweet. The bad news is he may not be available to play in Game 3 when the series shifts to New York. The Knicks, who have not won a postseason game since 2001, are already playing without starting guard Jeremy Lin and rookie Iman Shumpert, who suffered a season-ending ACL injury in Game 1.
Knicks center Tyson Chandler told TNT’s David Aldridge that Stoudemire “has a laceration” and is “probably going to be out.” Then Chandler caught himself and softened his comment by saying, “I don’t know how bad it is.”
Chandler’s teammate Carmelo Anthony said he didn’t know what happened and had no idea what went on in the locker room.
”You never want to hear anyone gets hurt,” Heat guard Dwyane Wade said. ”Hopefully [Amare] gets better. We want all their guns on the court.”