Knicks F Amar'e Stoudemire lacerates hand punching locker room fire extinguisher
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| Amar'e Stoudemire cut his hand in the locker room after a loss to the Heat. (Getty Images) |
Ken Berger of CBSSports.com reported that New York Knicks forward Amar'e Stoudemire lacerated his left hand in a locker room incident following New York's Game 2 loss to the Miami Heat at American Airlines Arena on Monday night.
Berger reported that paramedics rushed into the Knicks locker room after the game to attend to Stoudemire after he punched a fire extinguisher's case outside the arena's tunnel entrance to the locker room just "seconds" after he left the court following the loss. Witnesses to the incident reported that there was "a lot of blood."
"I am so mad at myself right now, I want to apologize to the fans and my team," Stoudemire tweeted on Monday night. "Not proud of my actions, headed home for a new start."
Following the incident, Berger reported that Stoudemire left the arena through a security exit with his "left hand bandaged and [his] arm in a sling." He did not field questions from the media.
While a Knicks spokesperson and interim coach Mike Woodson both confirmed that the injury took place, neither provided specific details as to the cause of the injury. Stoudemire did not undergo X-rays in Miami and he will travel back to New York with the Knicks.
Stoudemire finished with 18 points, 7 rebounds, 2 steals, and 1 block on 6-for-9 shooting but Miami won easily, 104-94, to take a 2-0 series lead.
Game 3 in the series is set for Thursday at Madison Square Garden. Stoudemire's status for Game 3 is not yet known.
Stoudemire, 29, averaged 17.5 points, 7.8 rebounds, 1.1 assist and 1.0 block in 32.8 minutes per game for the Knicks this season. He played in 47 of the Knicks' 66 regular season games, missing time due to an ankle injury, a bulging disk in his back and because of a death in the family.
TNT aired video of paramedics entering the Knicks locker room and Stoudemire exiting the arena wearing a sling.
