“It’s still a seven-game series, you got to win four to get out of it…they held serve at home. I feel good about going home and playing in front of our crowd to see what we are made of.” So spoke Knicks interim head coach Mike Woodson after New York lost their 12th consecutive post-season game, this time a 104-94 defeat to the Miami Heat in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference playoffs. Presumably, Woodson’s optimistic words came before he learned of Amar’e Stoudemire’s post-game confrontation….with a fire extinguisher. Newsday’s Neil Best attempts to explain :
Stoudemire suffered a severe laceration when he punched a glass case in which a fire extinguisher was housed outside the team’s locker room at American Airlines Arena.
Reporters were prevented by security officials from speaking to Stoudemire as he headed for the team bus. The Knicks said his status would be evaluated upon their return to New York.
The team’s locker room was closed to reporters for about 40 minutes after the game — four times longer than usual — and paramedics were seen leaving the room after treating Stoudemire. Both the Knicks and Heat doctors also worked on Stoudemire.
His teammates did not sound optimistic that he will be in uniform Thursday.