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The Knicks have been without one of their best players for a while now, and they've been playing some of their best basketball lately (hey, that sounds kinda familiar). But he's still a weapon that they'd like to have. They just don't think they'll have him for the first round.
New York Knicks coach Mike Woodson has all but ruled out Amar'e Stoudemire for the team's opening-round playoff series against the Boston Celtics. "I think he's going to be out,'' Woodson said Thursday. "That's my gut." Stoudemire was on the floor during practice but hasn't started running yet. The veteran power forward underwent surgery March 11 to clean up debris in his right knee. At the time of the surgery, the Knicks said Stoudemire was expected to miss four to six weeks. Based on that timetable, the earliest he could return would have been April 22, a day before Game 2 of the first-round series.
I wouldn't expect that this will be the end of this story, but that's where we stand now.