GREENBURGH, N.Y. — Amar’e Stoudemire remains questionable for Saturday’s game against the Boston Celtics in Hartford after banging knees on Wednesday with teammate Chris Copeland.
“Yeah, [Saturday] is questionable,” Stoudemire said Friday, one day after he sat out the Knicks 108-101 victory over the Wizards in Washington.
“I still want to see how it feels [Saturday]. We’re taking a precautionary rout so making sure everything is 100 percent. Bone bruise is never a fun thing and it takes a while for it to heal.”
Stoudemire wore a sleeve on his left knee as he shot the ball and did walk-through stuff Friday, but did not practice.
“We’ll see where we are [Saturday] with him when he comes to shootaround,” Knicks coach Mike Woodson said. “It depends on how he feels.”
Shooting guard J.R. Smith also missed practice Friday with what Woodson called a “maintenance day.”
Stoudemire initially missed practice Wednesday, with the Knicks initially saying he was taking a recovery day.
Only during shootaround on Thursday in Washington did the Knicks reveal Stoudemire was injured.
“I can play if I needed to, but it’s preseason so we’re not looking to force anything right now,” Stoudemire said.
He said he banged knees with Copeland on a drive to the basket.
“Whenever you get a bruise, it’s an accumulation of blood that’s right there in the area, so it takes a while to loosen the area up to break up that blood clot, so it takes a good time to get ready,” Stoudemire said.
He added: “Even if I do sit out [Saturday] there’s still plenty of time to figure everything out. The season doesn’t start for another three weeks, so we got plenty of time to iron everything out.”
PITINO REACHES OUT TO CHRIS SMITH
One day after undergoing knee surgery, Knicks rookie Chris Smith said Louisville coach Rick Pitino texted him words of support on Friday.
“Yeah, I heard from Coach Pitino today,” Smith told SNY.tv. “He texted me and told me to get well soon. He said he heard the bad news but anything I need, just give him a call.”
Smith has already begun rehab and is expected to miss 3-6 months.
“I might’ve been able to have a little spark for the team at [shooting guard] with my shooting ability and my defense,” he said, “but everything happens for a reason.”
