NBA Rumors: Knicks' Best Option Without Amar'e Stoudemire Is Going Small

Unfortunately, the New York Knicks have a good bit of experience playing without superstar forward Amar'e Stoudemire, who is reportedly expected to miss Game 3 and possibly the rest of the series with a lacerated hand, according to ESPNNewYork.com.

He hasn't been much of a superstar this season to begin with, but he's more important than ever due to the loss of Iman Shumpert.

With Stoudemire, the Knicks at least had a big, athletic (albeit underperforming) scoring option under the basket. And without him, but with a healthy Shumpert, New York could at least split STAT's scoring load between both Shump and Carmelo Anthony, while also putting a dominant perimeter defender on the court.

Nick Borges of ESPN Insider hypothesizes what the Knicks will do without Stoudemire:

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The loss of Stoudemire means head coach Mike Woodson may go small and move Carmelo Anthony to the power forward position. Woodson employed that tactic while Stoudemire was out with a back injury.

Woodson's other option is to start Jared Jeffries at power forward and keep Anthony at small forward.

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Starting Jeffries would be a mistake, as he'd struggle to cover virtually anybody, and the Knicks may need him if Tyson Chandler gets into foul trouble.

The Knicks are out of viable options with so many injuries.

Their best bet is to start Baron Davis at the 1, J.R. Smith at the 2, Landry Jones at the 3, 'Melo at the 4 and Chandler at the 5. That way, they'll at least have two proven scorers on the court to hopefully make up for their weak defensive lineup.

With STAT on the bench, any chance of Knicks success rests squarely on the shoulders of Anthony, with a small chunk going to Smith.

Anthony will see LeBron James and Shane Battier in his face all night and will get nothing easy. If the Knicks are going to have any chance to win, they'll need him to hit tough shots and hope J.R. can catch onto one of his hot streaks. Steve Novak also has to be deadly when he's used.

Make no mistake about it: The Knicks have been left for dead by the injury bug (and Stoudemire's stupidity). But their best chance of success is going small.