CBS Sportsline's Mike Khan is reporting that Tim Duncan's father has died.  Tim Duncan is returning home and will not play in Game 4 against the Sonics Wednesday.  The Spurs will also likely be without David Robinson.  Game 5 is Friday, but there is no indication whether he'll be ready to play then.

Parker has chosen the postseason to elevate his game. Three contests into this leap, he is named to the All-Rookie first-team and is soaring to the next level. Barring injury, you know where he lands next: in his first All-Star Game.

Reputations are made in the playoffs, and Parker has carved one that is reverberating across the league. He is the rookie blowing past Payton. The kid outplaying an all-star.

He also is the 19-year-old provoking a question no reporter imagined asking before this first-round series between the Spurs and Sonics: Tony, do you think you are embarrassing Gary Payton?

"No," Parker said after Monday's practice. "He's still Gary Payton."

Johnny Ludden of the San Antonio Express News writes that, after some initial improvement, David Robinson?s recovery from a back injury has plateaued.  He will probably miss Wednesday?s game in Seattle and some in the organization believe he may miss the playoffs entirely.

Robinson aggravated an old back injury on April 20th.  After trying to play in Game 1, Robinson received a therapeutic injection into his back which reduced the pain.  He responded well to the injection and to aqua therapy in the days following.  He even did some running.  However, since Sunday, Robinson?s condition hasn?t improved any more.  Robinson is still confident he can play soon, but not everyone is so sure he can recover quickly enough.  And, with Shaquille O?Neal awaiting him in the next round, Robinson needs to be well-recovered to compete.

In the Seattle series, Robinson?s absence is offset by the absence of Sonic Rashard Lewis who hurt his shoulder and is expected to miss up to three weeks.  Spur Danny Ferry may miss time as well after spraining his wrist.

News yesterday was not good for the Seattle Supersonics, already facing elimination in their series against the San Antonio Spurs then receiving more bad news yesterday.  Phenom forward Rashard Lewis received word back about his partially dislocated shoulder, and it was not good.

The Sonics cannot expect to see Lewis back in Games 4 or 5, if necessary, against the Spurs. And they can also rule him out against the Lakers if by some miracle they can get past Tim Duncan.  Lewis is out for at least three weeks and now faces the possibility of surgery.

Which now leads to a whole new question, will Rashard ? one of the NBA?s quickest rising stars ? be in Seattle next season?  Lewis has the ability to opt out of his current contract (which he is sure to do) and is looking for his big pay day after taking less money to remain in Seattle last time.  Lewis is eligible to earn a contract worth around $100 million over seven years, but whether anyone offers it to him is another question.

"My first option is to come back to Seattle," said Lewis.

What series-altering adjustments had the Spurs made during their four-day break between Games 2 and 3? What had they done to tweak their offense?

"We didn't change anything," Popovich said.

Nothing?

"You're going to get more open shots," Popovich said, "when you're playing D and rebounding."

The secret to the Spurs' success apparently isn't much of a secret. On Saturday, the Spurs won the way they've won much of the past four seasons, using another aggressive defensive effort to move within one win of a second-round meeting with the Los Angeles Lakers.

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich called timeout, gave two simple instructions ? keep the Sonics off the boards and keep yourselves composed ? and that was it. Less than three hours later, the Spurs were boarding their charter home with a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five series, once again in control after a resounding 102-75 win that ranked as their second-biggest playoff victory ever.

Said Popovich: "We just went back to playing the way we've been playing all year long."

Not entirely. While Tim Duncan turned in his usual do-it-all performance (27 points, 13 rebounds and five blocks), Tony Parker showed off a couple of jaw-dropping, never-seen-before moves on his way to a career-high 23 points.

The Seattle SuperSonics will go into the cut throat Game 4 without one of their main weapons, with Rashard Lewis becoming a late scratching after partially dislocating his shoulder.  The term used to describe Lewis? availability was ?doubtful? by the Sonics, the 6-10 forward scheduled in to see a shoulder specialist today.  But if you listen to Lewis speak there is no doubt to it, he will not be playing.

"I'm most definitely upset because I won't be able to participate in the game this Wednesday," Lewis said yesterday. "For me coming from an ankle injury and coming into a shoulder injury is upsetting."

The injury came when Lewis was boxing out Spurs forward Malik Rose for a rebound, Rose brushed by Lewis as his arm was in an awkward position leading to a ?popping sound?.

"It happened really quick," Lewis said. "I just felt my shoulder kind of pop, and I felt it shift out of place. That was more shocking than anything."

Brent Barry shot 50.8 percent from the floor in the regular season, but as the Seattle SuperSonics strive to survive in their first round series with the San Antonio Spurs Barry?s offense has thus far been on vacation.

"I'm trying to be more aggressive," Barry said in a solemn voice. "But I've gotta be patient and wait for the opportunities and hopefully they'll come.?

But with the team down 2-1 and facing elimination, do they have patience?  The team needs Barry?s offense now.  In a game where Barry was the lowest scoring starter the Sonics could only manage two players in double digits; Gary Payton scored 20 and Vin Baker finished with 10.  Against a team like the Spurs you will not win a meaningless regular season game playing like that, and this is the post season.  

"There's more to the game than just scoring," said Barry, who had a team-high eight rebounds and four assists. "You do whatever you can out there on the floor and have to have guys doing the little things. It's too bad we didn't have more guys doing that."

Seattle's first four baskets all came courtesy of offensive rebounds. The Sonics' put-back parade slowed only slightly over the next 31/2 quarters.

Of the 98 points they scored in their Game 2 victory, 22 came from second-chance opportunities.

"If we cut that in half," Tim Duncan said, "it's a whole different ballgame."

As they head into Game 3 Saturday at KeyArena, the Spurs know they need to keep the Sonics off the boards to keep themselves in the playoffs.

Not having David Robinson for the second consecutive game makes that task all the more difficult.

"Game 3," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said, "is a month and a half from now."

Though the Spurs and Sonics will officially resume their best-of-five series on Saturday, four days between games equates to an eternity in the NBA.

For the Spurs, that means they will spend the better part of this week devising a follow-up plan after their Game 2 defeat deprived them of homecourt advantage.

"I don't think this helps after a loss," Antonio Daniels said. "You want to get right back on the floor and play again after you don't play well. But maybe this will be a good time for us to work on some things."

Not the least of which will include David Robinson's back. Though Popovich said Robinson is doubtful to play Saturday, the four-day break affords him time to heal.