Just when you thought the Knicks’ playoff hopes are crushed with the sudden bulging disk injury to Amar’e Stoudemire, here’s some food for thought:
1) In the 43 games Stoudemire has played, the Knicks are five games under .500 (19-24). Opponents average more than 95 points per game and shoot better than 44 percent from the floor.
2) In contrast, the Knicks are 6-1 this season without Stoudemire and in those 7 games, opponents have scored 89.4 points per game and shot 40.7 percent from the floor (Sidenote: Jared Jeffries was playing throughout this stretch but as of right now, the Knicks don’t have him either).
3) Stoudemire’s plus-minus rating this season is -47. The only player on the Knicks with a worse plus-minus is Mike Bibby at -77.
Source: http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_/id/39521/why-knicks-might-not-miss-stoudemire