Another day, another guy with a busted left hand returning to his team's starting lineup way sooner than expected. On Saturday, it was Caron Butler playing with a fractured fifth metacarpal in the Los Angeles Clippers' Game 3 win over the Memphis Grizzlies. On Sunday, it's Amar'e Stoudemire, who will take his lacerated and stitched-up mitt into a win-or-go-home Game 4 against the Miami Heat. Rumors of Stoudemire re-entering the New York lineup, which had rumbled for several days, were confirmed just over an hour before the scheduled 3:30 p.m. Eastern tipoff of Game 4 . New York enters the contest in an 0-3 hole against the defending Eastern Conference champions; one more loss sends the Heat into the Eastern Conference semifinals, and the Knicks home for the summer. Stoudemire suffered a bad cut on his left hand when he punched a fire extinguisher case near the locker room of the AmericanAirlines Arena after New York's Game 2 loss in Miami on Monday night. After missing Thursday's Game 3 loss , which pushed his seventh-seeded Knicks team to the brink of elimination Sunday, Stoudemire practiced Friday, saying he's "been blessed" with the capacity to heal quickly and upgrading himself from "out" to "doubtful" for Game 4. Knicks interim coach Mike Woodson wasn't hearing that "doubtful" business, though. He said*Friday that he thought Stoudemire would play in Game 4, tabbing the Knicks' $100 million man as a game-time decision. He proclaimed Stoudemire ready to go on Sunday afternoon, though, telling reporters before the game that Amar'e will "he'll be fine," according to MSG Network's Alan Hahn . "If it opens up, we'll stitch him back up and play," Woodson said.

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