"Amare Stoudemire missed practice Thursday and stayed home to receive treatment on his ailing back, which forced him to miss the second half of Game 2 in the New York Knicks-Boston Celtics Eastern Conference playoff series.

The Knicks are now describing Stoudemire's ailment as a pulled muscle in his back, and he is listed as day to day.

Chauncey Billups, who missed Game 2 with a strained left knee, attended practice Thursday but did not participate. He was listed as questionable for Game 3 of the first-round series Friday night, the first Knicks playoff game at Madison Square Garden in seven years."