The severely sprained right ankle of Tim Duncan is beginning to appear more and more 'severe' with each passing day.  He could be out for the rest of the regular season with ligament damage that may not fully heal until next season.

The Memphis Commercial-Appeal's Ron Tillery has learned that the chance of him not returning until next season is legitimate.

"I can't worry about how this will impact us for the playoffs, because I really don't know at this time," said Spurs executive VP-coach Gregg Popovich. "Tim's disappointed because he was starting to get on his roll. But he knows that is over with and he's got to start over. So he's got to start to change gears and has gotten into rehab mode."

If Duncan misses the playoffs, then the door will open wide for small ball teams like the Suns, Sonics and Mavericks.

"The entire West changed dramatically with Shaq leaving the Lakers," said Seattle GM Rick Sund this past week. "If Duncan is not 100% when the playoffs start, it changes things in our conference in a big way. I've always felt that Phoenix was the best team out here, anyway, even before Duncan went down. But he is the most dominant player in the West . . . If he's not his normal self for the playoffs, then that gives everybody a legitimate shot to get to the Finals."

"Tim is an obvious impact player and his absence could certainly affect the Western Conference playoff picture," said Bryan Colangelo, the Suns' GM. "The No. 1 seed has been our goal all along, and we have competed neck-and-neck with the Spurs all season. What we need to worry about, however, is that we stay sharp and focused and compete each night as if nothing has changed."