Do Knicks have toughness to beat Celtics?

GREENBURGH, N.Y. -- In July, before he even signed the contract, Amar'e Stoudemire pulled on a Knicks cap and said, "The Knicks are back.'' Nine months later, he had something new to declare.

"The main goal is to get to the Finals,'' Stoudemire said Friday as his Knicks prepared for their first-round playoff series against the Celtics. "That's the main goal.''

The original goal was just to get this wayward franchise back on track and back into the playoffs. But now, with Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups joining him for the last 28 games of the regular season, Stoudemire wants the team to raise its expectations.

"We just got to keep guys motivated, keep guys focused and understand that we've got a great shot at doing something special,'' he said.

Do they have a puncher's chance against the defending Eastern Conference champs? The Knicks are aiming for a knockout blow against the Celtics, who struggled at the end of the regular season but believe they can -- and will -- flip the switch once the playoffs begin.

What the Celtics have on their side is experience. But another factor that is expected to be a major element in this series is team toughness. The Celtics, with two NBA Finals runs in the previous three years and annually among the league's best defensive teams, are proven. But how tough are the Knicks?

Even team president Donnie Walsh admitted he has wondered if his group has what it takes to compete in the postseason. "I wasn't sure about that,'' he said. "But the more I see out of the core players, they're tough. They're tough guys.''

When the Celtics beat the Knicks at Madison Square Garden on March 21, there were bloodied bodies all over the court. Anthony suffered a gash over his eye from a collision with Rajon Rondo. Celtics guard Ray Allen also had a cut on his head from an errant elbow by Jared Jeffries. Kevin Garnett likened the game to "a bar fight,'' and the Knicks expect more of the same starting in Sunday's Game 1 in Boston.

"In Detroit we did it, we had it,'' Billups said of the toughness it takes to compete in playoff basketball. " been doing it; they have it as well. That's an adjustment we're going to have to make.''

Billups, Stoudemire and Anthony are experienced in such playoff battles. Stoudemire and Garnett are notoriously physical, but the matchup that could generate the most sparks could be between Anthony and Paul Pierce.

Pierce said he is looking forward to going head-to-head with Anthony. "I'm really going to be focusing in on the defensive end of the floor,'' Pierce said. "Nobody wants to get embarrassed. I have a lot of pride in my game, but at the same time, offensively, I want to make him work, run him off screens.''

Anthony was less interested in discussing his counterpart.

" I'm not going to try to make this no one-on-one battle between me and Paul Pierce,'' Anthony said. "I can't beat Boston by myself and Paul's not going to beat us by himself."