Amare Stoudemire's health key for Knicks

The New York Knicks season comes down the the health of power forward Amare Stoudemire, at least according to Magic Johnson. The ESPN analyst said that the Knicks need Stoudemire to stay healthy and play a full season, something he hasn't done since coming to New York.

Stoudemire is out 2-3 weeks with a ruptured cyst in the back of his left knee which has caused him to miss all but one of the Knicks preseason games. It is expected that he will miss up to the first five games of the season.

Johnson said the Knicks need to get their whole team healthy, mentioning both Marcus Camby and Iman Shumpert. Johnson said without a full team, the Knicks rely too much on Carmelo Anthony's scoring. Magic added "If they have a full team and they can stay healthy, yeah they could (challenge Miami)."

The Knicks finished last season 36-30 as the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference. The Knicks open their season against the Brooklyn Nets on Nov. 1 and host the Miami Heat on Nov. 2.