The Microscope: Tyson Chandler Locks Down Dwight Howard, and More NBA Notes

The Microscope is your recurring look at the NBA's small-scale developments—the rotational curiosities, skill showcases, coaching decisions, notable performances and changes in approach that make the league go 'round. 

Tyson Chandler As the Deus Ex Machina of the Dwight Howard Narrative

As we look to assign blame for the Magic's most recent on-court disaster, let's not discredit the defensive impact of one Tyson Chandler—a big man uniquely suited and tempered to defend Howard over the course of a game, provided that he doesn't let his own aggressive nature get the best of him.

Fouls are often Chandler's worst enemy, but on Thursday, he was able to duck foul trouble for long enough to pester Howard; it showed as much in Howard's miscues (five turnovers) as it did his decreased opportunities (just eight field-goal attempts).

Forcing Howard to the baseline has worked out rather well for Chandler in their matchups this season, but the key—as it virtually always is with post defense—is putting in early work.

Howard was still able to work his way deep into the paint on several of his early attempts, but overall, Chandler did a spectacular job of preventing Howard from attaining the kind of post position that could be leveraged into consistent offense.

It was top-notch work from one of the game's best defenders. Although Howard's elite D typically obscures the work of whatever big man he happens to run up against, Thursday night was all Chandler.

Shifting Minutes—and Responsibilities—in Boston

Paul Pierce is no stranger to acting as an emergency playmaker, but he—and Kevin Garnett—will be asked to do even more for the Celtics offense as a result of Avery Bradley's move into the starting lineup.

Bradley's shift hasn't radically altered the Celtics' distribution of minutes, but it's certainly changed the structure of Doc Rivers' rotation. By nature of playing Bradley and Rajon Rondo together more often (and therefore having less of an opportunity to stagger their playing stints), Boston has been forced to lean more heavily on Pierce to initiate the half-court offense, lest Rivers fall back on an overextended Keyon Dooling for supplementary shot creation.

He likely won't, and for good reason.

Although using Pierce as an offensive impetus isn't a recipe for long-term offensive success, it's a perfectly suitable strategy in a pinch. That particular positional shift may not help the Celtics' woeful turnover rate nor will it make Pierce's responsibilities as a scorer any easier. It's interesting solely for the fact that it allows Pierce to flex his complete game every night out.

We see alternating instances of Pierce as scorer and Pierce as playmaker in every contest, with both distinct capacities unavoidably tinged with elements of the other.

It's entertaining enough just watching Pierce navigate the dynamic; floating seamlessly between scoring and setting up the offense isn't always easy, but for a non-native PG, Pierce manages fairly well.

Toney Douglas, Again Doing What Toney Douglas Do

It had been quite some time since New York's Toney Douglas put together a remotely passable performance, but Jeremy Lin's unfortunate injury and Mike Bibby's fortunate DNP-CD on Thursday night gave Douglas an invaluable opening.

Then, for perhaps the first time in the 2012 calendar year, Douglas delivered. Most of his scoring may have come against Orlando's disinterested defense in the fourth quarter, but considering how woeful Douglas' shooting has been this season, I'd venture a guess that he—and the Knicks—will take makes however they come.

But the defensive end is where Douglas has always provided the most practical value, and that, too, was where he gave the most vivid reminder of his import on Thursday.

Douglas still does fine work as an on-ball defender. His disarming of Jameer Nelson was an apt demonstration of what he can still offer the Knicks when he has his wits about him—an occasion which has sadly been all too rare this season.