Hard to Overlook Marion

Between all the talk of Amare Stoudemire’s rehab and Steve Nash’s bid to repeat as MVP, Shawn Marion sometimes gets forgotten outside Phoenix.

Nobody is overlooking him lately.

Marion was the Western Conference player of the month in February, leading the Pacific Division-leading Suns to a 9-1 record in the month with dominant play at both ends of the floor.

“He has turned it up to a level that very few guys in this league have played like,” Sun Coach Mike D’Antoni said.

Marion had double-doubles in nine of his last 10 games in February and closed the month with a flourish. His final three games had the following stat lines: 44 points, 15 rebounds; 31 and 24; and 30 and 18.

The forward averaged 24.2 points and 13.9 rebounds in the month. He became the first player with three straight 30-15 games since Shaquille O’Neal from Dec. 5-11, 2001.

“He’s a higher energy and effort player than anyone at his position in the league,” Houston Coach Jeff Van Gundy said.

Marion added 29 points and 18 rebounds in a victory over Milwaukee in his first game of March. That raised his average to 22 points per game, which would be a career high.

“It seems that when I get things going early and I’ve been knocking down my shots, the results have been big scoring games,” Marion said.

The Suns long have depended on Marion for his rebounding and defense, but the scoring has been a huge bonus. Phoenix again leads the league in scoring, averaging nearly 108 points, despite playing all season without leading scorer Stoudemire.

A missed free throw late in Wednesday’s game was all that kept Marion from becoming the first player in franchise history with four straight 30-15 games.

“Shawn has been playing awesome right now,” Nash said. “It was disappointing that the ball didn’t bounce his way and he didn’t get that record. But nonetheless it has been an incredible stretch of games and it has been awesome just watching him play and to play with him.”

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The Golden State Warriors and Houston Rockets are separated by only a half-game in the Western Conference standings. The difference in their moods seems much larger.

The Warriors and Rockets have been two of the West’s most disappointing teams. Golden State didn’t build on its strong start to the season, while Houston has never gotten things together because of injuries to Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming.

Golden State is tied for 11th in the West as it tries to reach the playoffs for the first time since 1994 -- the longest current drought in the NBA. The Warriors pulled within 3 1/2 games of the eighth-place Lakers after beating Orlando on Wednesday to snap a four-game losing streak, and they think there is plenty of time to make up the gap.

“Of course the playoffs are still on our mind,” guard Jason Richardson said. “We’re in a position for the last playoff spot with a few other teams, but we can’t worry about them. We just have to continue to go out and win games.”

The Rockets don’t know if that will be enough for them. They were expected to be a contender in the West, but know that’s probably a long shot with four teams between them and the Lakers.

“We’re not really even thinking about the playoffs,” McGrady said. “We’re just trying to improve and just get better by the day.

“We’re a long way from being in the playoffs right now and we can’t even think about that right now. If we get close, then that will be something that we will really consider. But right now, we’re trying to finish the season strong.”

The Warriors will have a better idea if their hopes are realistic after they finish a five-game trip that starts Sunday at Minnesota. They looked like a playoff team during their 12-6 start -- and believe they can play at that level again.

“The playoffs will still be on our mind until we are mathematically eliminated,” the Warriors’ Troy Murphy said. “We’re trying to sneak in there. We still have a lot of the season ahead of us. We’ll see what happens.”

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If the Sacramento Kings are going to continue their turnaround and make it to the playoffs, they will have to win on the road.

Ten of the Kings’ 16 games in March are on the road, where they have struggled. Even after a 97-90 victory at Cleveland on Wednesday night, Sacramento was just 8-19 away from Arco Arena.

“We’ve lost to Charlotte, but we beat Phoenix [on the road],” King Coach Rick Adelman said. “How that works, I don’t know. It’s a matter of us going out and playing.”

The victory in Cleveland came in the opener of a five-game trip against Eastern Conference teams. It allowed the Kings to climb into a tie for ninth in the West with Utah, 1 1/2 games behind the Lakers for the final playoff spot.

“This short trip will determine our whole season I believe,” Kevin Martin said.

The Kings return home after the trip to play three straight in Sacramento, but then face another important road stretch. Four games during a five-game stretch are on the road, including visits to the Lakers and Jazz.

“We’re a young team and we’re starting to get consistent,” forward Kenny Thomas said after Wednesday’s victory. “Hopefully this is the start of us getting wins on the road.”

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Rashad McCants is starting to give the Minnesota Timberwolves what Dwane Casey has been asking of him.

The rookie from North Carolina has been enjoying the best stretch of his career in recent games. He tied his season high with 18 points Tuesday against Chicago, then topped it the following night with 21 in Minnesota’s 100-90 victory over New Jersey.

“The coach is giving me confidence to just go out there and play,” McCants said. “It is just a matter of time before I am going to be able to turn it on and be comfortable out there on the court.”

It’s maybe been a little longer than expected for a talented offensive player who was taken with the No. 14 pick in the draft. McCants averaged 17.6 points in three seasons in Chapel Hill, but was scoring only 6.2 per game after Wednesday’s game.

“I think with 60-plus games under his belt, [McCants] understands a lot of things that are going to be expected of him,” All-Star Kevin Garnett said. “You can’t ask him to come in and do some of the things that you expect him to do without knowing our game. This league is full of a lot of tricks and surprises. I think he’s coming into his own a little bit.”

Casey has been demanding of McCants, challenging him to do more, especially defensively. He is starting to see progress -- so much so that McCants is reminding the coach of some players he used to work with when he was an assistant in Seattle.

“It hasn’t equaled in wins but the growth process [McCants] is going through is phenomenal. I told him to keep it going and don’t get complacent,” Casey said.

“His hard work is now paying off. It’s similar to the growth process I saw Rashard Lewis, Desmond Mason and Luke Ridnour go through. When you first see them, it looks like they don’t know their head from their behind. But the growth is almost like another person. His demeanor is really coming along.”