NBA Playoffs 2012: Knicks Have Hope vs. Heat After Amar'e Stoudemire's Injury
Conventional wisdom and on-court reality appear to be at odds when trying to determine just how far gone the New York Knicks are in their NBA playoffs series against the Miami Heat in the aftermath of Amar'e Stoudemire's assault on a fire extinguisher.
Conventional wisdom dictates that the Knicks, while screwed to begin with, are in even worse shape without the services of their All-Star power forward. After all, what team in basketball could possibly afford to lose its second-best player and still mount a challenge to LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and company?
Conventional wisdom also dictates that New York, loser of its last 12 postseason contests, has little-to-no hope to dig itself out of an 0-2 deficit after double-digit losses in Miami.
But might losing STAT actually be a good thing for the Knicks?
It's pretty clear that he and Carmelo Anthony can't coexist on the court effectively, at least not until they and their coaches have more time to figure out how to rearrange the pieces to this rather perplexing puzzle.
It's also no surprise that STAT would do his best work at power forward, seeing as how that's been his position of choice ever since he came into the league. Of greater intrigue is Melo's effectiveness at the "four." He's long had an excellent post game, which allows him to abuse small forwards and outmaneuver power forwards down low.
Of course, Melo and Amar'e can't play the same position at the same time. In 15 games without Amar'e by his side, 'Melo has averaged 30.4 points per game, a jump of nearly eight points from his season average of 22.6.
Overall, the Knicks went 14-5 during the regular season when Stoudemire wasn't in the lineup.
Does that mean the Knicks are a better team without Amar'e?
That might be taking it a bit far, though it wouldn't exactly be inaccurate to say that New York's roster is more a collection of talented-but-misfit parts rather than a well-apportioned set of cogs in machinery when he's on the floor with Carmelo.
Stoudemire's case isn't made any stronger by the fact that he's always been a liability on defense, even more so now that injuries and normal wear-and-tear have robbed him of much of the speed and athleticism that once made him a dominant force in the NBA.
Frankly, the Knicks were never a good bet to beat the Heat after the way these two teams played one another during the regular season. Amar'e absence may open up more space in the front court for Carmelo and Tyson Chandler to operate against Miami's suffocating defense.
What it won't do, though, is heal Iman Shumpert's knee. His perimeter defense was key to New York's revival under Mike Woodson and entirely necessary to slowing down LeBron and Wade.
Without Shump, the Knicks can do little more than hold their collective breath and pray that Miami's dynamic duo doesn't destroy them.
That hasn't worked too well so far, and doesn't figure to improve any time soon, regardless of Amar'e lost battle with a fire extinguisher.
