Amar’e Stoudemire may not see a minute of action against the Celtics, but he’s guaranteeing a series victory anyway.
“We’re going to win that first round for sure,” Stoudemire told Jared Zwerling of ESPNNewYork.com on Thursday night in New York City during a screening of his upcoming EPIX documentary, “Amar’e Stoudemire: In The Moment,” which premieres Friday.
“Obviously, as we all know, with the Celtics, you can never underestimate those guys. We’ve got to definitely come to play every game, and bring that focus and determination every single night. I have high confidence in what we can do.”
The Knicks will get bigs Tyson Chandler and Kenyon Martin back for Game 1 against Boston Saturday at Madison Square Garden, but Knicks coach Mike Woodson said he was uncertain when Stoudemire might play.
“I think he’s going to be out,” Woodson said Thursday. “That’s my gut.”
Stoudemire missed the first two months of the season after undergoing offseason knee surgery. He returned in January and averaged 14.2 points and five rebounds in 23.5 minutes.
But he went down again in early March and underwent right knee debridement. The Knicks announced at that point he was expected to miss six weeks, which coincides with the start of the playoffs on Saturday.
“I’m doing everything I can to get back out there and be extremely strong and healthy so, hopefully, I’ll be out there soon,” Stoudemire told ESPNNewYork.com on Thursday.
WOODSON NAMED COACH OF THE MONTH
While Thursday was a bad day for former Nets coaches, it was a good one for current and former Knicks helmsmen.
Former Net coaches Byron Scott (Cavaliers) and Lawrence Frank (Pistons) were both fired.
At the same time, both Woodson and Mike D’Antoni, the current Lakers and formers Knicks coach, were named NBA Coaches of the Month.
The last time a Knicks head coach won Coach of the Month was March 1994 (Pat Riley).
Woodson led the Knicks to an 8-2 month, tied for the most wins in the league in April with the Miami Heat. New York collected wins over four Eastern Conference Playoff teams — Atlanta (twice), Indiana, Miami and Milwaukee and finished the season 54-28 (.659). The Knicks surpassed the 50-win plateau for the first time since 1999-2000 under Woodson, and notched the best home record in the East at 31-10 (.756).
D’Antoni guided the Lakers to a share (Denver, Los Angeles Clippers) of the best record in the conference in April at 7-1 (.875). The Lakers won five straight games to close the season, including three over Western Conference playoff teams – Golden State, San Antonio and Houston, the final two without the services of Kobe Bryant (torn Achilles tendon). The seventh-seeded Lakers finished the season 45-37 (.549).
