Amare Stoudemire Injury: Why the Knicks Can't Win Without Star Forward

Amare Stoudemire is to the Knicks what peanut butter is to jelly. Well, you get the point. The Knicks are OK without the star forward, but they can’t win consistently without Stoudemire on the court.

Stoudemire is a huge piece of the Knicks' game plan and it showed a year ago when New York was unable to perform consistently against the Boston Celtics in the playoffs. Sure, the Knicks have big playmakers in Carmelo Anthony and Jeremy Lin, but even Lin is day-to-day with a knee injury.

Carmelo Anthony was a bright spot on Monday as he returned to his All-Star form with a 28-point showing against the Milwaukee Bucks, but Anthony won’t be able to pick up the slack that will be left with the back injury that has sidelined Stoudemire.

Stoudemire is a key for the Knicks' offense as he brings 17.6 points per game and eight rebounds per game to the hardwood for New York. Stoudemire is also a leader for the team, one that the Knicks can’t afford to lose to a nagging back injury.

When asked about the loss of Stoudemire, interim coach Mike Woodson said, “He’s a big piece of our puzzle…we rely on Amare to do a lot of things for us.”

That is a bit of an understatement. With the sporadic performance that came against the Celtics a year ago when Stoudemire fell to injury, it is easy to see why the Knicks won’t make it far without his contributions on the court.

The Knicks are talking to the rehab line in hopes that Stoudemire will be able to return to the team by the time the playoffs roll around, assuming that the Knicks can hold on to the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

Stoudemire is a leader and a gamer for the Knicks; without him they are terribly inconsistent as they lack the powerful inside game that Stoudemire brings to the table.