NEW YORK — The Knicks have already lost two point guards to knee injuries in Jeremy Lin and Iman Shumpert.
Now, they are without a third.
Baron Davis crumpled to the floor with about five minutes remaining in the third quarter of New York’s 89-87 victory over the Miami Heat in Game 4 of their Eastern Conference playoff series and was taken off the floor in a stretcher.
Davis smiled and waved to the fans as he was carted off and initially diagnosed with a dislocated right patella.
An MRI on Monday revealed that Davis suffered a partial tear of the patella tendon, and complete tears of the ACL and MCL. He will have surgery later this week and is expected to be out approximately 12 months.
“I almost shed a tear on the court, to be honest with you,” said Amar’e Stoudemire, who finished with 20 points and 10 rebounds after missing Game 3 with a lacerated hand. “It’s something that I don’t want to see again from one of my teammates, especially Baron is such a great guy.
“I dropped down to one knee and said a prayer while he was on the ground. It was that sad for me.”
”It’s been a rough year on our team as far as injuries,” Knicks interim coach Mike Woodson said ”He’s got a tough injury on his hands. I don’t know how bad it is, but hopefully he’ll have a speedy recovery.”
Lin is recovering from meniscus surgery April 2 and said this week that Game 5 was a possibility but it remains unclear if he can go.
“Don’t know,” Woodson said. “I really can’t answer that.”
Carmelo Anthony, who scored a game-best 41 points, including a critical go-ahead 3- pointer to make it 87-84, talked as if Lin was done until next season.
“Jeremy is still part of this team although he’s injured right now,” Anthony said. “He’s still part of this team and I look forward to having him back next season.”
Shumpert tore his ACL in Game 1 and said before Game 4 he hoped to be back in December.
“It’s definitely going to set me back,” he said. “But I’m not worried. I’ll be able to pick it up. I’ll figure it out. The biggest thing is just coming back healthy. Not trying to come back too early.”
Woodson relied on Mike Bibby, the team’s third-string point guard, and he came up with a huge 3-pointer to put the Knicks up 84-81 in the third. He finished with six points and two assists in 22+ minutes.
“His shot was huge,” Woodson said. “He hit a big three to put us up. I kind of expect that from him. Mike’s been around me for a while now.”
Toney Douglas did not get off the bench but may be pressed into service in Game 5 to back up Bibby if Lin can’t go.
“We will just go out to play ball,” Anthony said. “Nobody expected that to happen today. It is just an unfortunate situation. Be ready to play when your number is called.”
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