Amare Stoudemire could return Friday night against Cleveland Cavaliers – NBA News Update
New York Knicks power forward Amare’ Stoudemire may return to action for his team on Friday night against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Interim coach Mike Woodson said that Stoudemire has been taking part in team practices and hopefully,
will return in Friday’s game. The forward however will not take part in Wednesday night’s games against the New Jersey Nets.
“Thursday, we'll have another practice to kind of see where he is. And if everything goes well in that practice then there's possibility that Stoudemire could return Friday" said the coach.
Stoudemire has not played a game for New York since March 24th when he was ruled out with a bulging disc in his back. He practiced for the first time on Saturday, and then scrimmaged with team mates during team practice
on Monday. Before that, he had been gradually getting back into shape and shooting hoops.
Woodson was positive after his practice session, particularly after he participated in the scrimmage. He was involved in a lot of physical contact and seemed to take it well.
"He's been going against Josh Harrellson and Josh has been banging him pretty good. So we'll see." said coach Woodson referring to his participation in the scrimmage.
The coach has made it clear that Stoudemire will start the game when he returns to the team and will not be coming off the bench. Amare plays power forward and in his absence, Carmelo Anthony has been covering that position. Some
people expected that Carmelo would continue to play from there but Woodson has said that Stoudamire will play as power forward and Anthony will move back to his previous position of small forward.
Before Mike’s announcement, there had also been speculation that Stoudemire would come off the bench instead of player a starter once he returned to the team. It was argued that this would help the 2nd unit of the Knicks
on the court as it would give them a star scorer to play around. Also, it would help divide or share the playing time between Carmelo Anthony and him. The two players have been unable to form a good chemistry on the court this season, and Stoudemire’s numbers
drop when he plays with Anthony.
Having Stoudemire in the starting line-up however is also very important, as he is a certified rebounder and a post scorer, something the Knicks could use at this point.
Stoudemire has not been in the best of form this season, with his statistics dropping from the last one. He is averaging 17.6 points this season, 4 points less than his career average. His rebounds have also dropped from 8.8 for
his career to 8 per game this season.
But, he seemed to be getting back into his top form just before the injury, averaging 18 points and 57% shooting in the last 5 games that he played. His return is crucial as the Knicks head into the playoffs. It will make the Knicks
defense stronger and also add to their scoring options.
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