The standard visual before a Knicks game is Amar’e Stoudemire lying on his back in the middle of the locker room, his two legs covered in giant-sized black sleeves that resemble part of a camper’s sleeping bag.
The sleeves, which take up half of a small visitor’s locker room, help in recovery. The ritual is working.
Stoudemire has been healthy, willing and able. The Suns visit the Garden Monday, and while his former team hardly regrets not re-signing Stoudemire for $100 million guaranteed over five years, it’s worth noting his career is not dead. Not yet.
On some nights, like his two gorgeous games against the Heat and 76ers, he looks like the same guy who played for the Suns and earned All-Star berths every season. Yeah, that good.
Overshadowed by the J.R. Smith saga is Stoudemire’s season jumping another rung of competence while his massive ego has remained in check. In 19.5 minutes per game, he’s shooting 54.2 percent, averaging 9.4 points and 4.3 rebounds — numbers that should grow now that Knicks coach Mike Woodson recently has been rolling him more than 25 minutes a night. Stoudemire has played in 30 of the team’s 36 games.
“I‘ve been feeling pretty good all year,’’ said Stoudemire. “My explosiveness has been there, it’s coming together as a whole. I’m feeling great.’’
Carmelo Anthony, who begged the Nuggets to send him to New York to form a superstar tandem with Stoudemire, doesn’t want to get too giddy. He has seen too many things happen to Stoudemire since Anthony arrived in February 2011.
During training camp, as Stoudemire finished the final stages of knee rehab from summer arthroscopic surgery, Anthony called his situation “sad.’’ Anthony remains tempered now — even if a potential Sixth-Man-of-the-Year caliber season from Stoudemire could catapult the Knicks into a whole different light.
Stoudemire’s sturdy defense and paint play have been an integral part of their 5-1 record in 2014.
“We’re getting Amar’e one day at a time,’’ Anthony said cautiously. “We don’t want to jump the gun here. Amare’s been playing great.
“He took it one day at a time. He had so many injuries over the last couple of years that could mess you up mentally. He’s just starting to bounce back and getting confidence in his legs and games.’’
Stoudemire faces one last restriction from Dr. Lisa Callahan’s harried medical staff: He’s still not permitted to play four games in five nights. So on Friday against the Clippers, after contests against the Suns, Bobcats and Pacers, Stoudemire is expected to sit. Last season he underwent his season’s second knee operation after a four-games-in-five-nights stretch.
Considering he started the season on a 10-minute restriction and permitted to play only every other game, he has come a long way. He posted his season’s first double-double against the Heat (14 points, 11 rebounds) before dominating the Sixers, pouring in 21 points in 22 minutes, making 8 of 10 shots and all five of his free throws, outscoring Anthony.
“He was fantastic,’’ Woodson said. “He got stronger as the game went on. He was a force. Defensively solid as well. He’s playing well for us. We have to keep him playing at that level.’’
With Stoudemire struggling early this season, often getting his shots blocked, he and Woodson had a big talk. They agreed the attempt to redefine him as strictly a low-post player wasn’t working. Woodson looked to mix it up more by involving Stoudemire more in pick-and-rolls, like in his first season as a Knick and in his eight flourishing seasons in Phoenix. Recently, it hasn’t been uncommon for Anthony and Stoudemire to work the pick-and-roll together, showing they can play off each other.
“When Amare’s in the pick-and-roll with me, there’s a lot of options,’’ Anthony said. “He can go down there in the post. People forget that he was a hell of a roller going to the basket. He still has that — just a matter of his legs getting underneath him. He’s getting his power and confidence back. When we plays like that, and we start believing in him more, he’s only going to get better.’’
And so will the Knicks.