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Looking at the Knicks' top lineups from this past season (based on plus-minus), the top three don't include the Big Three of Carmelo Anthony, Amare Stoudemire and Tyson Chandler (source: ESPN Stats & Info):

1. Baron Davis, Iman Shumpert, Landry Fields, Anthony and Chandler -- plus-44
2. Jeremy Lin, Shumpert, Fields, Steve Novak and Chandler -- plus-23
3. Lin, J.R. Smith, Novak, Jared Jeffries and Chandler -- plus-21
4. Lin, Fields, Anthony, Stoudemire and Chandler -- plus-20

The best lineup is further proof that the Knicks played better when Anthony operated as the power forward, Stoudemire was on the bench and Chandler became more of a rebounder and inside scorer (areas in which he's more effective than Stoudemire, based on averages and percentages). But the team needs the trio to be on the same page. How can that happen?

Combining insights from ESPN New York's Jared Zwerling and a couple of NBA scouts, below are three different offensive sets that the Knicks should run to play to the strengths of Anthony, Stoudemire and Chandler. They are intended to show how spacing is key and how the plays can be initiated catering to the Big Three's strengths (keeping in mind numerous options can be implemented afterward):

1. The Jeremy Lin-Chandler pick-and-roll. In this situation, Anthony would be on the weakside wing, Stoudemire on the weakside block or short corner and Steve Novak, for example, on the ball-side wing.

If Lin doesn't score, he can pass to Chandler rolling, which will force an extra man to leave Anthony or Stoudemire to double Chandler, making the defense switch and rotate. Then the Knicks will have the advantage to pick apart the defense by finding Novak from three, Stoudemire inside (after his defender leaves him) or kicking out to Anthony for the jumper.

What's key is that the Knicks are smart about their passing and find the open man quickly to keep the defense on its toes.

The four most important aspects of running a P&R are: 1.) a crafty point guard who can score; 2.) 3-point shooters; 3.) players who can finish; and 4.) a standout wing scorer. The Knicks have all four.

2. The Melo point-forward play. Melo would have the ball on the wing, Lin would be at the top of the key, Stoudemire on the ball-side block, Chandler on the weakside baseline corner and Novak on the weakside wing.

Stoudemire could set a screen for Anthony, or Melo could quickly dump it down to Stoudemire and he could go to work in the post. Anthony could always look to attack the middle of the lane right away. If so, he'll have Novak on the weak side; if Novak receives the pass and can't shoot it, he could find Stoudemire popping out for the jump shot after setting his screen on Anthony.

From there, Melo could set a back screen for Stoudemire and get him a look dropping to the basket. Chandler would be inside insurance when the shot goes up. If the ball is returned to Lin, Chandler could become a pick-and-roller.

3. The Melo post play. While Melo is setting up in the low or mid-post, Lin would be on the wing (delivering him the ball), Stoudemire would be on the weakside high post (foul-line area for his midrange jump shot), Chandler on the weakside block and Novak on the weakside baseline corner. The formation of the Big Three would resemble the Triangle offense. Anthony could score himself, but if he's doubled, he can find Stoudemire or Novak for open shots. Stoudemire could also set a down screen for Chandler, who could then curl inside and a pass from Melo would result in an easy two.

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Chandler called the past season "crazy and difficult," based on the lockout, coaching change and all of the injuries, but he's looking forward to training camp where he'll have more time to refine his game, while learning how to blend in with Anthony, Stoudemire and the rest of his teammates.

"It's very important because that's where you kind of get your identify, defensively and offensively," he said after his exit interview at the Knicks' training facility on May 10. "I thought we did a great job of just becoming a good defensive team throughout the season without any of that. When you have a full training camp and say, 'This is going to be our system, this is how we're going to attack people,' it makes it a lot easier."

How the Big Three work together is the most critical component to the Knicks' success next season and for the next three years -- if, of course, they remain intact as a unit.

For Part 1 on ways Anthony, Stoudemire and Chandler can improve, click here.

You can follow Jared Zwerling on Twitter.

Let's face it: The hefty contracts of Carmelo Anthony, Amare Stoudemire and Tyson Chandler -- which equal $53 million next season and give the Knicks little salary-cap room -- wouldn't get as much attention if the Big Three played better together.

When all three were on the court, their collective plus-minus was minus-9, and the team's field goal and 3-point percentages were only 45.1 and 26.8. The spacing on the court was sometimes jammed -- mostly based on Chandler and Stoudemire occupying similar space -- which slowed down ball movement and limited good shots from downtown.

Combining insights from ESPN New York's Jared Zwerling and a couple of NBA scouts, here are five ways the Knicks' Big Three can improve in Season 2 together:

1. Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudemire need to become more willing passers. When they catch the ball in an isolation situation, they tend to put their blinders on and make their focus the basket. They don't demonstrate enough floor vision when they attack.

Anthony became a better passer in his first full season in New York, acting as more of a point-forward, but they both need to learn how to find each other and their teammates. If I'm Mike Woodson, I'm stressing penetration and passing as a combined action they both need to work on this summer. Overall, the Knicks' ball rotation has to improve, and it starts with Anthony and Stoudemire.

2. Anthony and Stoudemire need to get better at moving without the ball. Too many times when one of them catches the rock, the other stands around, watches and hopes for the kick-out pass from penetration. In fact, that sometimes goes for all the Knicks.

Overall, they both need to be more active in halfcourt sets and utilize their teammates to get open off down screens and backdoor cuts. The same movement Woodson demands on defense, he needs to demand on offense.

3. Tyson Chandler needs to be the main pick-and-roller. Earlier this season, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra told ESPN New York: "Offensively, he's one of the very best pick-and-roll guys to the rim, where he collapses your defense if you don't put bodies in front of him, and he has those lob dunks."

Many around the league agree with Spoelstra's assessment, especially because Chandler is a bigger presence than Stoudemire. Though STAT can pick-and-roll, his versatile scoring skills need to be utilized more in isolation and catch-and-shoot situations.

When Jeremy Lin and Chandler develop their pick-and-roll game, that should routinely open up looks for Stoudemire. Overall, with more pick-and-rolls, that will limit the Knicks' isolation and stagnant play, and with more defined roles for Chandler and Stoudemire, that will give the team better spacing and scoring opportunities.

Stoudemire crowded the court and limited ball flow, which made it difficult for Anthony, who shot better up to 29 feet when STAT was out of the game vs. on the court (45 percent to 40.9). When Stoudemire was on the bench and Chandler was playing with Anthony, the Knicks scored more than 100 points per 100 possessions (less than 100 with Stoudemire).

4. Chandler and Stoudemire need to both own the paint. Memphis' Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph showed how it's done during the first round of the playoffs.

While the Grizzles averaged 45.1 points in the paint during the regular season (fifth-best in the NBA), the Knicks averaged 40.5 (16th-best). With a Anthony-Stoudemire-Chandler frontline, that has to improve.

While Chandler was always a lock to score in the paint and grab double-digit rebounds, including a couple of putbacks and tapbacks per game, Stoudemire was occasionally an onlooker. Anthony sometimes had more of an inside presence than Stoudemire, who said during the regular season that added muscle from last summer limited the pep in his step.

5. Anthony and Stoudemire need to play consistent defense, like Chandler does.

Scouts agree that Anthony can play D, but he takes plays off to exert himself more on the offensive end, and Stoudemire sometimes looks like a space cadet on the court, appearing not to know his position and then getting burned by his defender.

Stoudemire is the bigger liability. When he was on the court with Anthony or Chandler, the Knicks allowed opponents more than 100 points per 100 possessions, but Anthony and Chandler (with Stoudemire on the bench) kept them below 100 points. With Woodson likely back, his demand for accountability should continue to motivate Stoudemire.

Stay tuned for Part 2, which examines three different offensive sets that could benefit the Big Three and the team.

You can follow Jared Zwerling on Twitter.

Since the Knicks' season has ended, Amare Stoudemire has returned to Miami -- but you won't find him inside American Airlines Arena, where he made the fire extinguisher outside of the visiting locker room famous.

Instead, Stoudemire is enrolled as a summer student at the University of Miami, where he is working toward a bachelor's degree in general studies.

Earlier this week, STAT posted a photo on his Twitter feed of him throwing up "The U" sign, along with the message: "Just enrolled at the University of Miami. Working on continuing my education."

Last summer during the lockout, Stoudemire, who owns an apartment in Miami, took classes at Florida International University, where he participated in LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh's all-star exhibition game.

You can follow Jared Zwerling on Twitter.

"It was a crazy year, man," Amare Stoudemire said after a Knicks practice before the team faced the Heat. "This year, it's going to go down with an asterisk mark because it was a roller-coaster year with the lockout. A lot of injuries across the NBA, so many games."

That was a few days before NBA commissioner David Stern gave his annual pre-playoff conference call, in which he said that significant injuries, such as ACL and Achilles tears, were not as prevalent during the season as in previous years. But then the postseason started, and Iman Shumpert, Derrick Rose, Josh Smith and Baron Davis all went down (in that order) with long-term knee injuries.

While there's been a lot of recent attention paid to the post-lockout shortened schedule as a result of those aforementioned setbacks, and many more, Stoudemire added another root to the problem. He raised an interesting point last week in Miami that the pre-lockout period also hurt the players, because they weren't able to interact with their team's trainers.

"I mean, it's because of the lockout," he said. "We play so many games this year, so many intense games back-to-back-to-back without hardly any rest, a lot of traveling. We had no time to recover. On top of that, during the lockout, a lot of us didn't have a chance to get proper treatment.

"I figured as the NBA, you'll want guys to continue to train the proper way even during the lockout, because something was going to be resolved sooner or later. So why not allow the team trainers to still work with the athletes during the lockout? That's something that didn't happen, so as a result of it, the injuries are at an all-time high within a shorter season."

A veteran NBA trainer agreed with Stoudemire and said only a few players go out of their way to stay in the best shape.

"Physicians don't play a big role during guys' offseason conditioning, but the athletic trainers," he said. "And, yes, many players depend on their athletic trainers to guide them, which they should. Many won't go searching for top trainers because they don't really have to if the team is available. But the more driven ones do."

During the conference call, Stern addressed the number of injuries this season, and he said there actually wasn't an increase. However, DNP's were up because of the additional games during the week. STAT agreed.

"Very much so," he said. "So many games within a month. Guys played 15, 16 games in a month. The most you should play is 12, 14 games in a month, so when you have back-to-back-to-back games ... Players like ourselves, we're very explosive who play the game with so much energy and enthusiasm to where your body is just not built to handle that type of impact every single night."

After seeing Shumpert and Davis go down in Games 1 and 4, respectively, Stoudemire admitted at the time that they had an effect on him.

"You want to be careful. This is a year where a lot of guys are going down with re-injury," he said. "At this point, now you're in the playoffs, so everything's got to be put aside and you've just got to play all out. But hopefully after this season, guys can recover and get great rest this summer and come into next season feeling good about themselves."

You can follow Jared Zwerling on Twitter.

If you want to make Carmelo Anthony mad, just ask him if he and Amare Stoudemire can co-exist.

A reporter brought up the stars' chemistry issue on Thursday, and the normally affable Anthony grew visibly annoyed.

"I get tired of hearing, 'Can it work? Will it work?'" Anthony said. "We're here to play basketball. We'll figure it out. I don't think it's something that's that difficult to figure out."

The questions regarding chemistry between Anthony and Stoudemire have persisted since Anthony came to New York last February.

The Knicks' two stars played well in Game 4 against Miami, but by and large, Anthony and Stoudemire have gotten in each other's way.

Just look at the numbers: The Knicks are 32-41 when Anthony and Stoudemire share the floor, including 1-7 in the postseason.

In general, Anthony seems to shoot better when Stoudemire's out of the game because he has more room to create. Stoudemire seems to thrive in an offense predicated on ball movement, while Anthony is at his best in isolation.

Stoudemire was asked on Thursday if things can work out with Anthony.

"It definitely can work," he said. "I feel like we've only been together for a year now.

"It can work, for sure. It's just a matter of us having a consistent year. ... It's been up and down. You can't point the finger at Carmelo or myself for not co-existing because it's been up and down ... since we've both been here."

"I think next season, again, I cannot stress it enough, from training camp throughout the year," Stoudemire added, "it's gonna be great for us."

You can follow Ian Begley on Twitter.

Amare Stoudemire says the Knicks' "Big 3" of Tyson Chandler, Carmelo Anthony and himself ranks "right there at the top" with the Lakers trio of Andrew Bynum, Pau Gasol and Kobe Bryant, the Heat's Big Three and Oklahoma City's duo of Kevin Durant and Russell Westrbook.

Stoudemire thinks the Knicks' trio needs a full 82-game season together before they can be truly judged.

Here's Stoudemire's explanation:

"I think as players with Carmelo, myself and Tyson as a foundation trio -- you can't ask for a better lineup than that in the NBA," he said. "You have LeBron (James), Dwyane (Wade) and Chris Bosh (in Miami), you have Westbrook and Durant and you have Kobe, Bynum and Gasol. But I mean, we're right there at the top of the bunch with (our) trio. I think it's a matter of time for us to really figure it out and have a consistent year.

"When you have players with such confidence and such personality, it's hard when you have a coaching change midseason and it's also hard when you have a trade midseason for us to co-exist and really figure out how we could play together. ... (Next season is) going to a great indication on how well we can play together, how we can do something special."

Do you agree? Are the Knicks on par with OKC, Miami, Los Angeles? Can they show it next season?

Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.

You can follow Ian Begley on Twitter.

According to our Take 'Em/Trash 'Em poll, that's what you guys want to do.

Of the more than 13,000 votes, 52 percent are in favor of holding on to Fields, who will be a free-agent this summer.

Fields has said that he'd like to stay, too.

The Knicks hold his Early Bird rights, so they will be able to match any offer another team makes to the second-year shooting guard. But after Fields' up-and-down season, it's unclear how far the Knicks will go to retain him.

The 23-year-old has been largely inconsistent since Carmelo Anthony came to town. Fields' scoring, rebounding and field goal percentage was down this season. He hit 39 percent of his 3-point attempts last year, compared to just 25 percent this year, though his attempts were cut in half.

The Knicks face an interesting situation at shooting guard this summer. J.R. Smith likely won't be back and they'll probably be without Iman Shumpert for at least the first month of the season as he tries to rehab his torn left ACL.

So New York will need someone to fill the void.

By the slimmest of margins, you guys think Fields should be the guy.

Here's another interesting result:

Most of you would like to see Amare Stoudemire back next season. Of the more than 13,000 votes, 57 percent say that Stoudemire should be in a Knicks uniform in the fall.

Stoudemire is coming off one of his poorest seasons in terms of scoring and field goal percentage. He faced conditioning issues resulting from an offseason back injury. He also dealt with the death of his brother and a late-season back injury.

Throughout the season, there were rumors that the Knicks had talked to teams about dealing him -- though they were never substantiated. Stoudemire has more than $60 million left on his deal and has a contract that is uninsured due to a history of knee ailments.

So he probably isn't going anywhere. And a majority of you think that's a good thing.

To see the rest of the results or vote again, click here.

You can follow Ian Begley on Twitter.

A few moments after Baron Davis suffered a horrific right knee injury during the Knicks' Game 4 win over the Heat at the Garden last Sunday, Amare Stoudemire got down to one knee beside the fallen point guard and said a prayer for him.

"It was something I don't want to see again, from none of my teammates especially," STAT said after the game.

This Sunday in Florida, Stoudemire's cousin is preaching a sermon and will make a special prayer request for Davis.

"My family's praying for him, I'm praying for him," he said in Miami before Game 5. "He's in good spirits actually. He's still smiling. I can tell he enjoyed being around us, because whenever he's around us, he has great energy."

Stoudemire can relate to what Davis is going through. While Davis battled back from a herniated disk, it was also a very trying season for Stoudemire, not only health-wise (a bulging disk), but also related to his family. His older brother, Hazell, died in a car accident on Feb. 6. And in the past, STAT also dealt with several long-term knee and eye injuries.

On Thursday, Davis had successful surgery to repair a partial tear of his right patella tendon and complete tears of the right anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments. The recovery time is expected to be a year.

Davis, an unrestricted free agent, has made no indication at this point whether or not he will attempt to return or opt to retire. He hasn't spoken to the media since the injury.

You can follow Jared Zwerling on Twitter.

The Heat on Thursday issued an apology to the Knicks and Amare Stoudemire after Miami's public address announcer used an "inappropriate choice of words" to disparage Stoudemire late in Game 5.

Shortly after Stoudemire picked up his sixth foul in the fourth quarter of the Knicks' 106-94 loss, the P.A. announcer at American Airlines Arena, Michael Baiamonte, said Stoudemire "has been extinguished from the game."

The Heat issued an apology on Thursday afternoon.

"Last night at our game, our PA Announcer had a momentary lapse of judgment and used a poor choice of words in describing Amare Stoudemire’s fouling out of the game. This is not who we are as an organization or who he is as an announcer," the team said in a statement. "Both the Miami Heat and Michael Baiamonte apologize to Amar’e and the New York Knicks for the inappropriate choice of words."

Baiamonte's "inappropriate choice of words" was no doubt meant to get the crowd to chuckle. But, in reality, it was a cheap shot at Stoudemire, who suffered lacerations to his left hand when he hit the glass encasing of a fire extinguisher after the Knicks' Game 2 loss.

Sure, the wound was self-inflicted. And Stoudemire was at the butt of plenty of jokes after the incident. But PA announcers are supposed to be a bit more traditional, a bit more buttoned down.

Stoudemire told ESPNNewYork.com after the game that he didn't hear the announcer's cheap shot at the time. But, when it was brought to his attention, he laughed it off.

"That doesn't bother me," he said.

You can follow Ian Begley on Twitter.

Amare Stoudemire on Thursday reiterated that he'd welcome free agent Steve Nash to New York, but also expressed support for Knicks point guard Jeremy Lin.

"What team wouldn't want a two-time MVP, an assist leader, a veteran point guard? But we do have Jeremy Lin here and we have confidence in what he can do for us," Stoudemire said Thursday after the Knicks conducted exit interviews.

Before the Knicks' season-ending loss to the Heat on Wednesday, Stoudemire said it "would be great" to have Nash, his former Phoenix teammate, in New York next season.

"Everyone knows that Steve loves New York and that New York loves Steve," Stoudemire told the New York Daily News. "I love Steve. It would be great to have him here next year."

Nash, who will turn 39 next season, told ESPN.com's Marc Stein last month that he'd like to "sign for three more years this summer" and play beyond his 40th birthday when he either inks a new deal to stay with the Suns or finds a new team via free agency.

"Steve Nash is obviously a veteran player," Stoudemire said. "I've played with him for several years. I know what he brings to the table. But the offseason is always an open market; you never know what can happen."

The Knicks' point guard position is in flux entering the offseason.

Lin will be a restricted free agent this summer. Thanks to a clause in the collective bargaining agreement, New York will be able to offer Lin the most money in the first year of his contract. But, to do so, the Knicks likely will have to dip into their midlevel exception.

Given their limited salary cap space, if they use their midlevel exception to re-sign Lin, it likely will preclude them from making a significant offer to Nash. So the 38-year-old two-time MVP would have to agree to sign at a significantly discounted rate.

Nash has said he wants to play for a team capable of contending for a title.

Stoudemire was diplomatic when discussing the Knicks' future at point guard. He was highly complimentary of Lin, who emerged off the end of the Knicks' bench to lead the team to seven straight wins in February.

"Jeremy's obviously a phenomenal [player]," Stoudemire said Thursday. "He's done a great job for us this year. He helped us maintain our playoff berth when he was here playing, so much respect for him for that."

Mike Woodson said Thursday that Lin will be back next season.

Lin, though, while grateful for the opportunity the Knicks have given him, has given no assurances that he will return to New York next season.

"It would be great if I could come back, but crazy things happen and I don't know what's going to happen," Lin said.

You can follow Ian Begley on Twitter.

You stay classy, Miami Heat PA announcer.

Shortly after Amare Stoudemire picked up his sixth foul in the fourth quarter on Wednesday, the PA announcer at American Airlines Arena said Stoudemire "has been extinguished from the game."

It was meant to get the crowd to chuckle. But, in reality, it was a cheap shot at Stoudemire, who suffered lacerations to his left hand when he hit the glass encasing of a fire extinguisher after the Knicks' Game 2 loss.

Sure, the wound was self-inflicted. And Stoudemire was at the butt of plenty of jokes after the incident.

But PA announcers are supposed to be a bit more traditional, a bit more buttoned down.

Stoudemire told ESPNNewYork.com after the game that he didn't hear the announcer's cheap shot at the time. But, when it was brought to his attention, he laughed it off.

"That doesn't bother me," he said.

No love for Jeremy Lin, Amare?

Before the Knicks' Game 5 loss in Miami, power forward Amare Stoudemire said it "would be great" to have his former Phoenix teammate Steve Nash, a free agent this summer, in New York next season.

"Everyone knows that Steve loves New York and that New York loves Steve," Stoudemire told the Daily News. "I love Steve. It would be great to have him here next year."

Nash, who will turn 39 next season, told ESPN.com's Marc Stein last month that he'd like to "sign for three more years this summer" and play beyond his 40th birthday when he either inks a new deal to stay with the Suns or finds a new team via free agency.

The Knicks' point guard position is in flux.

Lin will be a restricted free agent this summer. Thanks to a clause in the collective bargaining agreement, New York will be able to offer Lin the most money in the first year of his contract. But, to do so, they will likely have to dip into their mid-level exception.

Given their limited salary cap space, this would preclude them from making a significant offer to Nash. Unless, of course, they let Lin walk and sign Nash instead, or Nash agrees to take a significant pay cut and sign for the veteran's minimum.

Nash has said he wants to play for a team capable of contending for a title.

Amare Stoudemire, the Knicks' wounded superstar, walked slowly off the floor after picking up his sixth and final foul on Wednesday night.

It was the bitter end of a brutal night for Stoudemire.

In foul trouble all night, the Knicks power forward finished 14 points and just four rebounds -- or two fewer than Mike Bibby -- in 31 minutes.

Afterward, he was asked if his injured left hand -- the hand he lacerated by hitting the glass encasing of a fire extinguisher at American Airlines Arena ten days ago -- was bothering him.

"I felt OK. I got hit a few times, but I'm all right," he said.

He couldn't say the same about his team though.

The Knicks enter the offseason with more questions than answers after their second straight first-round exit.

And figuring out what to do with an injured and less-than-effective Amare Stoudemire is just one of them.

There's also the matter of hiring a head coach. It seems like a mere formality that Mike Woodson will be back next year, but nothing's set in stone until Woodson signs on the dotted line.

And then there's the issue of Carmelo Anthony and Stoudemire playing together.

The Knicks' two stars played well in Game 4, but by and large, Anthony and Stoudemire have gotten in each other's way for the past year and a half.

Just look at the numbers: New York fell is 32-41 when Anthony and Stoudemire share the floor, including 1-7 in the postseason.

In general, Anthony seems to shoot better when Stoudemire's out of the game because he has more room to create. Stoudemire seems to thrive in an offense predicated on ball movement, while Anthony is at his best in isolation.

Late Wednesday night, Stoudemire was asked if he thought he and Anthony could thrive together.

"There’s no doubt I think it will work. Just have to see what Coach Woodson’s going to do to make it work," Stoudemire said.

Does Woodson have to augment his offense to make it work? With Stoudemire and Jeremy Lin out due to injury, Woodson's Knicks relied heavily on Anthony to score, feeding him the ball in isolation again and again.

Tyson Chandler hinted that that offensive philosophy needs to change -- drastically -- in the offseason.

"I think we have to ... work on an offense with a nice pace to it, a nice flow where everybody touches the ball," Chandler said. "They’re going to get their shots (he said of Stoudemire and Anthony), but we've got to make sure we get other guys involved, get ball movement, and let them finish plays.

".... It has to be a team effort, it cant be individuals," Chandler added, "Because when you play as individuals you don’t get very far."

Lin seemed to run the offense that Chandler was describing when he took over at point guard in February. But will Lin be back next year? He is a restricted free agent next year and is expected to be re-signed.

If Lin is back, can he help the Knicks get past a team like the Heat? Miami isn't going anywhere, so New York will likely have to go through their South Beach rivals if they want to win a title.

Anthony, somehow, is confident that the Knicks can make that happen.

"In the future, I feel good about competing with the top teams in the Eastern Conference," he said. "I do consider our team being up there, top 3, top 4 teams in the East. But we've just got to get better and go from there."

That process will start this summer, when the Knicks enter an offseason with more questions than answers.

You can follow Ian Begley on Twitter.

Toney Douglas will likely play for the first time this series on Wednesday night in Game 5.

Mike Woodson, the coach who will be putting him in the game, hopes he's ready.

"Tonight he's going to have to play some. I just hope he's ready that when he gets out there he can give us some positive minutes," Woodson said before tipoff of Game 5.

Douglas did not play in the first four games of the series. He has played sparingly since Jeremy Lin took over as the team's starting point guard in early February.

"He will play tonight, how long will he play I don't know," Woodson said. "If he's playing great and things are going well, he'll play

"We're shorthanded and he's a big part of our team."

WOODY NEEDS ANOTHER GAME 4 FROM AMARE: Woodson wasn't aware that Amare Stoudemire's lacerated left hand was sore on Wednesday morning.

It didn't change the coach's expectations for Stoudemire.

"If he tells me he's ready to go and he's willing to sacrifice what has happened with his hand, I'm going to push him to play," Woodson said. "I need another game like he had in Game 4 where he came out ready to play right from the beginning and it was a nice carryover all the way through the ball game. I just hope he doesn't get hit on it and it opens up or anything like that."

MIAMI -- For the first time in-person, Amare Stoudemire showed the 15-something stitches he received after lacerating his left hand on a fire extinguisher during his last visit in Miami.

While STAT was addressing reporters after Wednesday morning's shootaround at American Airlines Arena, he wasn't wearing a bandage on the injury -- but that, of course, will change for Game 5.

"I'm pretty sure I'll have it extremely wrapped tonight before the game," he said. "It's still pretty stitched up, but it's very secure. My strength is coming back slowly but surely, so tonight I'll feel great."

Here's how Stoudemire described the protective device he'll be wearing on his left hand: "It's layered with like a Vaseline gauze and then a small strip of padding that goes over it. Then, we put some type of gel padding on the side of it, so if I do have contact on the area, it won't compress on the actual injury. And then we just wrap it up."

After recording a double-double (20 points and 10 rebounds) in the Knicks' Game 4 win on Sunday, Stoudemire will again be limited Wednesday night.

"I still won't be able to dunk with two hands or grab an aggressive rebound," he said. "I can't defend or block shots with the left hand. I don't want to get this hand in the passing lane, so I'm still very limited with the left hand, but I'll be OK."

Stoudemire credited the team playing with more energy and aggressiveness as keys to the Game 4 victory. For himself, he wanted to play that way to compensate for his physical challenge, especially in the paint. Since he probably knew his trademark midrange shooting may be difficult, he moved his game closer to the basket like a true center. He fought hard for positioning and had two dunks in the first quarter, and then made two shots by the basket midway through the third that sparked the Knicks to a 10-0 run.

"I was being very active, just trying to be in the right place at the right time," he said. "Even if I can't grab a rebound, I'll tap it out to my teammates. It was a team effort. Guys were boxing out and I just happened to walk in and grab a few rebounds, which helped. Having great players around me makes the game easier."

Stoudemire said the Knicks will have to bring that same level of energy and aggressiveness to Game 5 because the Heat are going to do the same right from the start, feeding off their fans, in order to close out the series.

You can follow Jared Zwerling on Twitter.