Amar'e Stoudemire obviously hurt and Carmelo Anthony absent as Celtics cruise past Knicks in Game 3

Amar'e Stoudemire lifted his jersey late in the third quarter and showed everyone his back brace, which wasn't really necessary because who didn't know he'd have to take the Garden court with back spasms?
If he did it to remind everyone what he was playing with, then that was Stoudemire's only misstep of the night.
He played hurt. He did next to nothing. His teammates, starting with Carmelo Anthony, did even less.
Once the beat-down was over and the Celtics had waltzed to a 113-96 win, the Garden crowd showered the Knicks with boos, every one of them richly deserved.
Why Stoudemire was even on the floor for five minutes of the fourth quarter was a mystery. Mike D'Antoni should have had him sitting or back in the locker room getting another round of treatment.
Stoudemire looked about 50% in scoring only two baskets in 32 minutes.
"The guy has been on a bed for two days and I just marvel that he got out and he wanted to play," D'Antoni said. "He was upset. His heart is in a great place. He gave us everything he got. His body is a little bit dead but I expect him to be ready (Sunday)."
It's amazing that with Stoudemire obviously a physical wreck, Melo was content to look to set up teammates. This wasn't the night to be a facilitator. This was a night to be Bernard King again.
Afterward, Anthony admitted that he saw that Stoudemire was obviously hurting.
"For him to come out there and give it a try, I respect that," he said. "He gave us what he could. Nobody expected him to go out there and be a superhero."
But everyone did think that Anthony would at least try to be Superman and lead the Knicks to their first playoff win in 10 years.
He proved them wrong. Anthony did get off 16 shots, but this was a night he needed to shoot the ball 36 times. This was a night when he needed to try to do at the Garden what he did in Boston in Game 2.
But most of the night, it was as if Melo wasn't even on the court. The Garden crowd loves to chant "Me-lo, Me-lo." It didn't do it once.
Before Anthony's disappearing act, the Celtics took the crowd out of the game by running off to a 22-5 lead.
"We're in New York," Kevin Garnett said. "It's the playoffs. It's their first time at home. It's a hostile environment. The New York crowd is a tough crowd. So we were locked in more than usual."
Meanwhile, Anthony was nowhere to be found. He ended the game with five turnovers and four baskets, a terrible ratio any way you look at it. In three days, he went from superstar to nonfactor, finishing with 27 fewer points than his 42-point epic performance.