Stoudemire received a diagnosis of a bulging disk in his lower back Monday, two days after he felt his back tighten in a game against the Detroit Pistons. He visited a specialist based in Miami on Tuesday to seek a second opinion before settling on a treatment plan.
According to a statement from the team, the doctors agreed on a nonsurgical rehabilitation program that will include an epidural shot.
If Stoudemire returns in two weeks, he could conceivably play in the final eight games of the N.B.A. regular season. If he takes the full four weeks, he might return in time for the final two games.
"We'll welcome him back as soon as he can get back out on the floor because we need him," Coach Mike Woodson said of Stoudemire's status after the Knicks' morning shootaround. "I mean, he's a big piece of this puzzle. But I want him to be healthy when he comes back and not come back trying to play hurt. That's the most important thing. Until he gets back, we've got to just take bodies as they come back."
One of those bodies belongs to Carmelo Anthony, who is coping with a strained right groin. At the shootaround, Anthony confirmed that he would play Wednesday night against the Orlando Magic, saying he had run around during practice and the injured area "felt pretty good."
Anthony sustained a similar injury in February that cost him seven games. He said Wednesday morning that the current injury was nowhere near as troublesome as the previous one.
"It's been tough knowing that I haven't been 100 percent, but that's just the way it's been this year," he said. Anthony also said he had reached out to Stoudemire — "I texted him, I called him" — but that the two had yet to talk.
As for Jeremy Lin, who was to sit out a second straight game because of a sore knee, Woodson remained noncommittal about how many minutes Baron Davis might play in Lin's place Wednesday might.
In Monday night's home victory over Milwaukee, Davis played 33 minutes in Lin's absence and shot 3 for 12 from the floor, with 9 turnovers. Davis, who missed part of this season as he recovered from a herniated disk and who more recently strained a hamstring, may not be able to carry that heavy a load.
"That's something I've got to gauge," Woodson said.
The Knicks (25-25) currently hold the eighth and final playoff slot in the Eastern Conference, with a two-game lead on Milwaukee. They are three games behind Philadelphia for the Atlantic Division lead — a spot that would confer a higher playoff seeding and the luxury of avoiding Chicago or Miami in the first round.
Meanwhile, Jared Jeffries is out for at least another week to 10 days because of a sore right knee.
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