Stoudemire pumped for Knicks' season debut

GREENBURGH, N.Y. -- The long-awaited return of the NBA has arrived, with the Knicks tipping off the regular season at home against the Boston Celtics at noon Sunday. The Knicks will pick up where they left off last season, in a rematch of their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series against Boston, which the Celtics swept in four games.

"The atmosphere is going to be just like, if not even better than, the playoff game tomorrow," Amar'e Stoudemire said Saturday. "We're very hyped. Hopefully we won't get too ecstatic because sometimes when you do that, you get adrenaline flowing that much, you have a tendency to overthink and overplay. Got to make sure we remain calm and play our style of basketball."

Stoudemire said he has fully recovered from a back injury he suffered in the playoffs and is in "perfect health." With a healthy frontcourt trio of Stoudemire, Carmelo Anthony and newly acquired big man Tyson Chandler, the Knicks have increased expectations from themselves as well as their fans.

"We feel confident about the situation right now and the team that we have," Stoudemire said. "Our goals are set pretty high for us right now only because we want to strive for a greater goal. I'm pretty sure every team in the NBA's goal is to win a championship, and ours is as well."

The 66-game regular season has every team playing a more condensed schedule than usual. After Sunday's opener, the Knicks travel to the West Coast for three games in four days starting Wednesday against Golden State, which has led pundits to the conclusion that the Knicks need to get off to a fast start.

"The alternative if you don't get off to a fast start -- what do you do, quit?" Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni said. "I know people will say that, but we've got to treat every game [the same]. I don't want to be cliche, but we won't get up too high, too low, win or lose. It's a marathon, and you can't let your emotions get the best of you.

"Even in wins, you can't get too high. You can win 10 in a row, it doesn't matter. You've got six games coming at you -- it's easy to spiral downward."

Notes & quotes:Paul Pierce traveled with the Celtics to New York Saturday but his status for Sunday's game remains unclear, according to the team's official Twitter account. Mike Bibby (back spasms) and Jared Jeffries (calf) returned to practice at the MSG Training Center. D'Antoni said Jeffries and Bill Walker (groin) are 100 percent but Bibby is going to be a game-time decision.

"It feels good," Bibby said of his back, which he injured in Wednesday's preseason game against the Nets. "It's getting better and we'll see how it is. I've been getting treatment and hopefully it gets better by [Sunday]. We know they're die-hard fans out here and it wouldn't do them any justice for me to go out there and not give them 100 percent."