Amar'e Stoudemire Injury: Why Knicks Have No Chance in Playoffs Without Star PF

The New York Knicks got pretty much a death blow thrown at them yesterday when news came down that power forward Amar'e Stoudemire would be out indefinitely with a bulging disc in his troublesome back.

Stoudemire, who left Saturday's game against Detroit with back pain, had an MRI on Monday and the results proved to be worse than any Knicks fan could have wanted to hear.

Not only will the Knicks have to win games and make a playoff push without Stoudemire's service, but they will have to scratch out wins in the short term without his backup Jared Jeffries and with Jeremy Lin and Carmelo Anthony both banged up as well.

The Knicks' rollercoaster season could continue to have its ups and downs.

Without Stoudemire and Lin, the Knicks found a way to beat the Milwaukee Bucks last night, holding Milwaukee to only 80 points. They will need many more efforts such as that one to continue a playoff push.

Yet while the Knicks were viewed as possible title contenders after things came together under Mike Woodson, a deep playoff run seems rather unlikely without a healthy Stoudemire in the lineup.

Everything was going great in the Big Apple before the Stoudemire injury.

The offense was beginning to run through him the way it should have been done all season long. Stoudemire had his explosiveness back and was beginning to look more and more like the player he did early last season.

The Knicks need his presence on the floor to seriously contend or make any type of playoff run.

Now the newfound ball movement and defensive effort will be more important than ever.

The Knicks simply can't replace Stoudemire on the floor with one man. They will have to get by with using their depth and playing a little smaller at times. While that could help at the offensive end of the floor, it makes New York vulnerable to being scored on in the paint.

Putting Jeffries in the game makes the Knicks a much better defensive team, but scoring in the paint now becomes very difficult.

The pressure in the immediate future is now on Woodson to mix and match effectively and play matchups.

The pressure is also on Anthony to be a leader with Stoudemire down. He wanted to be the guy to take this team places, now's his chance. The offensive philosophy should stay the same, but Anthony should have more of an opportunity to take over.

By no means are the Knicks dead in the water, but a lot of things are now going to have to go right until a further decision is made on Stoudemire.

He's almost as irreplaceable as it gets for the Knicks and with him in street clothes, a long postseason run could be next to impossible.