Knicks Rumors: Amar'e Stoudemire Will Not Play All 66 Games for New York

After the New York Knicks signed center Tyson Chandler to plug the hole in the middle for them, a big season is expected from the Knicks offense.

Especially in the case of Amar'e Stoudemire, who will have the opportunity to really play the power forward spot consistently for the first time in his career. Things are set up nicely for Stoudemire to produce in a big way.

That is, if he's on the court.

Stoudemire has been pretty reliable, playing in 160 of his last 164 regular-season games, but the NBA's shortened schedule, which could be very taxing on his knees, could present a problem.

As it stands, the Knicks have a back-to-back-to-back situation and several cases where they play six games in eight nights.

According to Stoudemire, he can envision a scenario where he sits out certain games to give his knees a rest.

Looking ahead at the Knicks schedule, there is no way that Stoudemire will play in all 66 regular season games, nor should he.

Depending on how the Knicks are playing during certain stretches, it makes perfect sense to give Stoudemire's knees a rest from time to time, especially closer to playoff time. The ultimate goal of this team is to have success in the postseason, not necessarily wearing Stoudemire down against a team well below the .500 mark.

Stoudemire has been a guy that has proven reliable to be in the lineup and averaged 36.8 minutes a season ago. But that was on normal rest during a normal NBA season. There is nothing normal about the 2011-12 season, so getting Stoudemire proper recovery time is a big thing.

It may be difficult for coach Mike D'Antoni to monitor Stoudemire, but he's likely going to have to.

At the end of the day, would the Knicks rather be without Stoudemire for a handful of games or a lengthy period of time?