Wednesday, 2 May 2012:

New York Knicks star Amare Stoudemire underwent hand surgery after his dummy spit and will miss at least one game as his team battles to stay in their NBA play-off series against Miami Heat.

The Knicks announced on Tuesday that Stoudemire had a small muscle in his hand repaired a day after he cut his hand when he punched the glass case surrounding a fire extinguisher after the Knicks' 104-94 game two loss in Miami.

Trailing 0-2 in the best-of-seven match first round series, they have ruled him out of Thursday's game three in New York and listed him as doubtful for game four on Sunday.

Stoudemire apologised on his Twitter account for the episode, which leaves the Knicks without another key player.

Jeremy Lin is still recovering from knee surgery and Iman Shumpert is out for the season after tearing a knee ligament in game one.

It is possible Stoudemire's difficult season is over.

He missed time in February after the death of his brother and again late in the season with a bulging disc in his back, and when he did play had his worst statistical season since he was a rookie in 2002-03.

The Knicks played well without him down the stretch by moving Carmelo Anthony to power forward, where he could take advantage of slower opponents.

But asking him to carry so much of the offence on his own is probably too much to ask against the Heat, who are 5-0 against the Knicks this season.

Stoudemire scored 18 points in game two, though he didn't get into a good flow until the fourth quarter, when the Knicks could never seriously challenge the Heat.

But any hope of carrying the momentum from his positive finish into Thursday's game at Madison Square Garden was lost during his walk back to the locker room.

"We all have done thing out of anger that we regret," he wrote on his Twitter page.

"That makes us human. Bad timing on my part. Sorry guys. This (too) shall pass."

AAP