Amare Stoudemire avoids serious damage, but out for Game 3 against Heat

Amare Stoudemire suffered no ligament or tendon damage in his left hand after punching a glass-enclosed fire extinguisher Monday night at American Airlines Arena, but he still won’t be able to play in Game 3 Thursday night in New York and is likely out for the rest of the series against the Heat, the New York Daily News’ Frank Isola reports via Twitter.

The incident occurred after the Knicks’ lost to the Heat, 104-94, in Game 2 to go down 2-0 in the first-round playoff series.

That Stoudemire probably won’t be able to return during the series was the expected news.

"I am so mad at myself right now," Stoudemire wrote on Twitter. "I want to apologize to the fans and my team, not proud of my actions. headed home for a new start."

Knicks center Tyson Chandler told Yahoo! Sports, "He’s probably going to be out. … Amare’s is a huge part of this team. Without him, it’ll make it more difficult. We already lost one player in the starting lineup (Iman Shumpert). That’s two players out of the starting lineup.”

But Carmelo Anthony refuses to concede that the series is over.

“It’s far from over,” Anthony said, per the Daily News, “We believe that and I believe that.”