Amare Stoudemire Plans to Play on Friday

Amare Stoudemire is expected to play with the New York Knicks on Friday after back spasms sidelined him for most of the Knick's 96-93 loss to the Boston Celtics on Tuesday.

The close Game 2 loss put the Celtics up 2-0 in the series. Carmelo Anthony scored 42 points in the game, but it was not enough. With Billups out for the whole game and Stoudemire out for most of it, the Knicks were certainly not playing with their best lineups.

"I should be ready for Game 3," said Stoudemire after Tuesday's game. "We'll see how it goes [Wednesday] and next day, but I'm pretty sure -- I'm hoping -- I'll be ready Friday."

Stoudemire described the back pains as unbearable and says that he thinks he hurt himself during pre-game warmups.

"I couldn't hardly move. I was trying to play through it," said Stoudemire. "Once I felt that sharp pain, I couldn't take it."

(Sources: ESPN.com)

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