Newton Citizen

New York Knicks' Amare Stoudemire leaves American Airlines Arena with his left arm in a sling after an NBA basketball game against the Miami Heat in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs in Miami, Monday, April 30, 2012. The Heat defeated the Knicks 104-94. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

NEW YORK -- Amare Stoudemire will miss Game 3 of the Knicks' playoff series against the Heat after cutting his left hand, a person with knowledge of the situation said Tuesday.

Stoudemire was injured after the Knicks' 104-84 loss in Miami on Monday when he punched the case surrounding a fire extinguisher. He left the arena with his arm in a sling and won't play Thursday, the person told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the team hadn't provided an update.

Stoudemire apologized on his Twitter account for the act, which leaves the Knicks without another key player as they try to rally from a 2-0 deficit. Jeremy Lin is still recovering from knee surgery and Iman Shumpert is out for the season after tearing a knee ligament in Game 1.

Stoudemire's status for the remainder of the series is unknown and it's possible his difficult season is over. He missed time in February after the death of his brother and again late in the season with a bulging disk 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 offense on his own is probably too much against the Heat, who are 5-0 against the Knicks this season.

Stoudemire scored 18 points in Game 2, though he didn't get into a good flow until the fourth quarter, when the Knicks could never seriously challenge the Heat.