It was announced on March 9, 2013, that Stoudemire would have a right knee debridement. He missed the rest of the regular season because of that. For the first time in his career, he was not a starter, but a sixth man for the New York Knicks. He only played 29 games during the season, averaging 14.2 points per game and 5 rebounds per game in 23.5 minutes per game. Even without him for most of the time, the Knicks finished 54–28 (second-best in the Eastern Conference), made the playoffs for the third time in a row, and won their first Atlantic Division title since the 1993–94 season. Stoudemire was still out when the New York Knicks defeated the Boston Celtics in six games which would be the Knicks' first playoff victory since 2000. He returned to action on May 11, 2013, in Game 3 during the Knicks' Eastern Conference Semifinals series against the Indiana Pacers. The Knicks ended up losing to the Pacers in 6 games.