Amar'e good to go back-to-back-to-back
Amare Stoudemire drives to the basket against Ben Wallace of the Detroit Pistons. (Jan. 31, 2012) Credit: Jim McIsaac
Amar'e Stoudemire plans to play in all three games of the Knicks' only back-to-back-to-back that starts Thursday.
Walking to the bench before the start of the third quarter Tuesday night, Stoudemire tripped over a jump rope and was in obvious pain. He twisted his right ankle, but had a strong third quarter.
"It was a freak accident," Stoudemire said after scoring 15 points. "I'll be all right."
Earlier in the day, Stoudemire, who has had back issues and surgery on both knees, said he would play in the upcoming trio of games against the Bulls, Celtics and Nets.
"Don't worry about me, man," he said. "I'm a warrior. I've been playing and persevering through injuries my whole career. So it's not going to be a problem at all."
If the Knicks had won more, the approach with Stoudemire might have been different. "We got to win," Stoudemire said. "So every night I'm going to battle."
Davis delayed
Mike D'Antoni doesn't expect Baron Davis (herniated disc) to play before next week. D'Antoni said it's not "a setback," but Davis is sore. He didn't practice Monday, but will go through Wednesday's session. D'Antoni said he's not worried about Davis' progress. "Not yet," D'Antoni said. "We all want everything earlier. But we're going at the speed that we think; once he comes back, he can stay back and not be in and out."
