The Microscope: Managing Amar'e Stoudemire's Return and More

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.

Mike Woodson, Rebuilding the Knicks in Phases

Amar'e Stoudemire made his long-awaited (long-feared? long-dreaded?) return to the court on Friday, to the tune of a relatively unremarkable 15 points and three rebounds in a Knicks loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

But in New York's nationally televised game on Sunday, Woodson made a smart play: In a contest where the Knicks could afford to surrender some of their size and defensive focus, Woodson elected to rest Tyson Chandler, thus allowing Stoudemire to play "center" and function as New York's sole pick-and-roll threat on the court.

For all of the hubbub about how Anthony and Stoudemire would coexist on offense, the bigger problem lies in getting Stoudemire to remain aggressive when he shares the floor with Chandler—a fellow big who in many instances operates in the same on-court real estate.

Some of that chemistry will come naturally as the two log a bit more court time together, but Woodson primed Stoudemire's initial return to the lineup with a chance to function as New York's primary offensive big.

There was no competition for space or function, and Stoudemire was able to go about his offensive duties as he customarily has, while Anthony—nominally the "power forward"—worked in a completely distinct capacity. 

Resting Chandler may have been necessary considering his workload this season, but even so, the timing of his tapout was pretty beneficial to Stoudemire's reintegration. He will have his chances to work back into the mix alongside Chandler soon enough, but Sunday's nail-biting win over the Hawks gave Stoudemire an opportunity to re-establish himself.

Orlando Escapes Mercy

When Jameer Nelson left Sunday's game with a calf injury, the Magic were very nearly done a kindness.

With no Dwight Howard to be found and Hedo Turkoglu likely out for the postseason, Orlando is a team devoid of hope. They don't have upset potential. They don't even make for particularly plucky underdogs.

They are merely a group of decent players that have managed to play hard in spite of their own futility. The Magic stand to be one of several playoff teams swept under the rug as soon as the formality of their playoff elimination is made official.

Such a proclamation could have been made—albeit unofficially—had Nelson's injury ruled him out for the postseason, and although one should never root for injury to any player no matter the circumstances, perhaps that would have been a bit of mercy at the end of a tumultuous season.

Nelson seems poised to return to the court in whatever form can be managed, and he and the Magic will both struggle uselessly against the tides. There may be some dignity in that struggle, but considering how dire the situation has been with the Magic all season long, perhaps it's more sensible to call it a day.

Rockets Break Down Before Reaching the Launchpad

The implosion of the Houston Rockets over the last eight games has been brutal to watch. After clawing their way into the thick of the playoff race, the Rox have played some miserable defense over the home stretch and seen their offense regress to an unacceptable level.

Houston may not have had a chance to really be much of a postseason player, but there was something to be said about the resolve of all three of the teams on the West's playoff fringe.

This may seem like a complete departure from the thoughts above on Nelson and the Magic, but the Rockets were a team of an entirely different tenor. Whether by narrative framing or basketball itself, Houston had already started down a path of overcoming unspeakable odds in the face of injuries.

The nature of these injuries was decidedly different from what we've seen in Orlando; while Kyle Lowry and Kevin Martin were valued components of the Rockets' roster, they simply weren't as structurally significant as Dwight Howard is to the Magic.

The underlying difference is that the Rockets have been missing talent, while the Magic have been missing the structural element that makes sense of the talent they already have. Howard's placement and style give further value to players like Ryan Anderson and J.J. Redick, and although those two are hardly useless in Howard's absence, they seem to lack the ability to impact the game in the same way.

That dynamic wasn't congruent to the Rockets, and it didn't cause their downfall. It wasn't Lowry's absence alone that doomed Houston into playing some of the worst defense in the league over the last eight games, just as it wasn't Martin's unique offensive contributions that doomed a previously effective offense.

The magic merely ran out, and while the talent and production of those two players could have theoretically helped, wouldn't that have, in a way, betrayed the point?