NBA

Stoudemire may not play as Celtics look to sweep Knicks

The Knicks may face the end of their season today at the Garden, but Amar’e Stoudemire may decide his first season in New York already is over.

With the Knicks at death’s door, trailing the Celtics 3-0 and on the verge of being swept, Stoudemire said yesterday he may sit out today. He believes playing in the potential elimination game may not be worth the risk.

Stoudemire realized he was a shell of himself in Friday’s Game 3, scoring just seven points on 2-of-8 shooting while the team was minus-34 points when he was on the court. The Knicks were blown out 113-96, and Stoudemire said he was “below 50 percent.”

With Chauncey Billups expected to miss his third straight game, that will mean the Big Apple 3 could be reduced to just Carmelo Anthony.

AMAR’E TO KNICKS FANS: FUTURE LOOKING BRIGHT

GEORGE WILLIS: AMAR’E HAS NOTHING TO PROVE

MIKE VACCARO: THIS GAME CHARACTER TEST FOR KNICKS

“You can always further an injury,” Stoudemire said.

“It’s a strained back muscle. There’s a chance of straining it more. There’s a chance of overcompensation and having another injury. It’s definitely a risk playing with a strained back. I’m not sure I’m going to take that risk right now. An injury that takes three weeks, I was trying to rush back in three days. So you can imagine what type of pain I was in [Friday].”

Stoudemire, who erupted for 28 points in Game 1, boasted things would have been different in the series had he not sustained a pulled back muscle during pregame warm-ups of Game 2.

“What makes it frustrating is that after Game 1, we had a great chance to win the series,” Stoudemire said.

“We feel we had a great chance to win that game, and I was totally ready to go, to dominate for the rest of the series. I was ready to dominate. I was so ready to dominate, in warm-ups, I got myself going and touched the backboard with my left hand and dunked with the right and felt something pull in my back.

“The diagnosis is three to four weeks to come back, but we had a game in three days. I said whatever it takes to have me ready for Game 3.”

PETER VECSEY: ANSWERS? D’ANTONI COMES UP EMPTY

LANDRY FIELDS’ PLAYOFF DIARY

SERBY’S SUNDAY Q&A WITH TONEY DOUGLAS

COMPLETE KNICKS COVERAGE

Meanwhile, Anthony, shooting 35.9 percent in the series, was emphatic that he does not want to get swept and made references to the game plan not mattering as much as the Knicks’ intensity.

“At this point, X’s and O’s go out the window and we got to play basketball, got to fight,” Anthony said.

“The most important thing is just how much pride we got. I don’t want to get swept. We don’t want to get swept, so we gotta go out there and leave it all out there on the court, see what happens. If we got to make every hustle play, foul some guys, knock somebody out, do whatever we got to do to prevent a sweep. I’ve been swept before. It’s a sad thing.”

Stoudemire did not have the same urgency, already talking about these playoffs in the past tense. No NBA team has ever come back from a 3-0 deficit, and the Knicks are 0-7 against the Celtics this season.

“The future with the organization is very bright, and you don’t want to hinder that by doing too much right now [with] the back,” Stoudemire said.

“We did a phenomenal job this year so far with making the playoffs. Obviously we wanted to have a better run in the postseason, but again, I don’t want to do too much to further injure it. I just want to make a smart decision here for [today’s] game and see how I feel [today] and see how it goes.”

Stoudemire said he needs to feel better than he did before Game 3 to play again. He said he can’t help the team if he has no explosiveness.

“It’s a little bit worse [yesterday],” he said. “I’ll rest up and get a good night’s sleep. It has to be better.”

Stoudemire suggested he couldn’t help the team in his current state.

“It’s tough, my game is very explosive,” Stoudemire said. “I love contact. I love to get to the basket. I love to draw fouls. I love to dunk. That’s my style. So with a bad back, it’s tough to play that way.”

Perhaps Stoudemire is creating some drama and ultimately will give it a try. Coach Mike D’Antoni said he thought Stoudemire would start and sounded willing to give him significant minutes.

“He took us from this summer to where we are right now,” D’Antoni said. “If he feels he wants to [play a lot], I’m fine with it. He has to have the gauge of it. But I’m sticking with him. I’m going with Amar’e. So be it if he’s not quite up to par. I think he deserves to give it his best.”

Because of their lack of depth following the Anthony trade, the Knicks were hard-pressed to withstand any injuries, let alone to two of their top three players.

Asked if it was a fair fight, his banged-up team going against the Celtics’ Hall of Fame trio of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen, Anthony said, “Life ain’t fair. We got guys not 100 percent. But it is what it is.”

Billups’ absence has shown Toney Douglas, who has been schooled by Rajon Rondo, is not ready to be a starting point guard. Rookie Landry Fields has been a big disappointment. And the Knicks don’t have any big men besides Stoudemire to supply any offensive punch.

“We got our [butt] beat [Friday],” Knicks president Donnie Walsh said. “I thought the Celtics beat us in every area and they had a great game. We’re in a tough position because Amar’e showed a lot of heart by playing, but you can see it was difficult for him.”

Even Walsh does not believe the Knicks are getting the series back to Boston for a Game 5. In a Freudian slip, Walsh said, when asked about his future, “I’m thinking about tomorrow [today’s game]. And after tomorrow, I’ll be thinking about the draft, free agency or trades.”