Keeping it real for Texas trip

It could be worse for the Lakers.

They could be doing the Texas Triangle instead of the Texas Two-Step.

The NBA schedule-makers sometimes stick it to teams going through Texas, matching them up against San Antonio, Houston and Dallas, but the Lakers have to handle only San Antonio (6-1) tonight and Houston (6-1) on Wednesday, a piece of back-to-back cake for a relatively young team.

“You want to go down there with the hopes of winning both, but you go down there with a realistic thing -- hopefully you get one, the early one, and you can fight for that second one,” Coach Phil Jackson said.

The Spurs are winning games by an average of 13.7 points and the Rockets have been rolling since beating the Lakers, 95-93, in the season opener at Staples Center, a game made close only after the Lakers scored 12 consecutive points in the final two minutes before Houston forward Shane Battier hit a three-point shot with 2.5 seconds left.

Jackson didn’t quite ring the bell of confidence when asked to assess the state of the Lakers, describing a team in flux because of lineup changes.

Kwame Brown is coming back after a two-game layoff because of a sore heel, and Lamar Odom has played only one game this season. The second unit is adapting to adding Luke Walton to the mix and Maurice Evans is returning after missing two games because of a sore back.

“This particular game, we’re kind of unsure as far as our roles and how the rotation’s going to be,” Jackson said. “We’re still feeling each other out a little bit as we go along. Luke’s back in an off-the-bench kind of role. It’s going to make an interesting transition for us. How do we start on [Tim] Duncan -- with which center?”

At the same time, Jackson is cognizant of the Lakers’ recent success against the Spurs, including a 2-1 record last season.

“We won both our games against San Antonio and lost an overtime game after falling to Charlotte in a couple of overtimes a couple nights before that,” he said. “We have played them [the Spurs] very well in the past.”

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TONIGHT

at San Antonio, 5:30 PST, Channel 9

Site -- AT&T; Center.

Radio -- 570; 1330.

Records -- Lakers 3-2; Spurs 6-1.

Record vs. Spurs (2006-07) -- 2-1.

Update -- Tim Duncan is averaging 17.4 points and 10.3 rebounds, and Tony Parker is off to a typically good start, but sixth man Manu Ginobili is adding a different dimension to the Spurs’ attack, averaging 19.9 points, five rebounds, 4.6 assists and 2.4 steals a game. Kobe Bryant had 34 points, eight assists and six rebounds in the Lakers’ 98-93 victory last January in San Antonio, but Ronny Turiaf had the play of the game -- a six-foot jump hook over Duncan, his NBA idol, with 9.9 seconds left.

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mike.bresnahan@latimes.com