On the Fly

The Lakers could eliminate the Houston Rockets tonight at Staples Center and move on to their presumed destiny, a best-of-seven series with the San Antonio Spurs, the team that made them cry a year ago.

In the hours before they play to advance, however, Kobe Bryant will board a jet in Eagle, Colo., loosen his tie and fly toward the opening tip of Game 5, scheduled somewhere around 7 p.m.

“Life,” Phil Jackson mused. “Life happens.”

Bryant tried the same routine twice in the regular season, was late once and on time once, and the Lakers won both games.

Free on $25,000 bail after he was charged last summer with felony sexual assault, Bryant will be returning from his third consecutive day of pretrial hearings. He missed practices and meetings Monday and Tuesday but, according to team officials, returned to Southern California each night.

“Without practices, we don’t know what we can count on,” Jackson said Tuesday. “We just know he’s going to give us an effort and he’s competitive. I told the players today we’re going to have to go ahead, assuming he’s not going to be here, and whatever he does give us, we’re going to take ... as a blessing.”

Monday, Jackson told of a conversation with Bryant, in which Bryant apparently told him today’s hearings might conclude near midday, giving him ample opportunity to clear out of Eagle and prepare for tonight’s playoff game.

That was an optimistic view. Judge Terry Ruckriegle has scheduled court to open to the media at 1:30 p.m., Mountain time, but it could be earlier if a suppression hearing ends ahead of schedule.

Typically, Bryant has needed 2 1/2 hours to travel from court to court, gaining an hour while flying.

Asked whether Bryant’s basketball schedule is being considered, Karen Salaz, a court spokeswoman, said, “In this courthouse, there is the largest group of non-basketball fans ever assembled.”

So stand the Lakers, the most important game to date for their Big Four here, Bryant en route, Shaquille O’Neal feeling the tendinitis in his right knee, nobody sure who’s driving the offense or manning the defense. And yet they hold a 3-1 advantage over the Rockets, who’ve twice pushed the Lakers to the final seconds and twice done just enough to lose.

A few inches to the left or right, Jackson said, and this could be the Lakers’ elimination game, the Rockets playing to move on. “Easily,” he said.

Instead, their motto will be, “Win and stay home,” at least until probably Sunday, when, if they’ve won, they’ll fly to San Antonio. The Spurs have finished their first-round walkover, and the Lakers could get on with their rest, as well. If not, Game 6 will be Saturday in Houston, and Game 7, if there is one, Monday in Los Angeles.

“Let’s get this over,” Gary Payton said. “We’re here in our own place and we ... should take [them] out.... Go back to Houston, you don’t know what can happen, man. We could have one of those games where they get hot and all of a sudden we have to come back here for Game 7. We don’t want that to happen. We want to take them out right now if we can.”

The Lakers have not yet played a dynamic game in the series. O’Neal has been surrounded and neutralized. Payton is less involved than he was during the regular season. Karl Malone just concluded his most influential week as a Laker, and still they can’t shake the Rockets.

Then there is Bryant. In four playoff games, he has shot 33.8%, 20% from beyond the three-point arc. In four fourth quarters, he has shot seven for 27. Jackson supposed that Bryant’s injury accumulation -- shoulder, finger, wrist -- had at least as much to do with the misses as, say, poor shot selection or the emotional weight of the pending hearings.

The fact is, the Lakers rarely are sure what Bryant will bring to a game. He often practices one way, then plays another, teammates say.

But Bryant still does things the rest of them can’t. So, they’ll prepare to play, hope to move on, and maybe keep one eye on the door.

“Honestly, I can say we definitely tried to go about our business as usual and not harp on the fact he’s not here or he may not be there,” Derek Fisher said. “I think we’ve tried to do the things we do as a team and still be competitive.

“Fortunately, before the arrival of Gary and Karl, we still had Shaq. And now we have all three of those guys, even when Kobe’s not there. So, I think we’re still confident ... we can still get things done. There’s no question we’re a better team when he’s here.”

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Times staff writer Steve Henson contributed to this report.