Frequent Flying Is Planned

Coach Phil Jackson thinks that one night in San Antonio is plenty, so he’ll commute to the early games of the Western Conference semifinals.

The Lakers will return to Los Angeles on Sunday night, after Game 1, then fly back to San Antonio on Tuesday for Wednesday night’s Game 2.

The plan would allow the players two extra nights in familiar beds and two practices on a familiar court -- but cost them at least six hours in the air over two days.

Some of the Laker players who were in El Segundo on Thursday, a day off for the team, were not happy about those travel plans.

By the time the Lakers return from San Antonio early Thursday morning, Kobe Bryant will have taken 11 flights in 11 days, beginning with the return flight from Houston last Sunday and including three round trips from Los Angeles to Eagle, Colo.

Apparently, part of Jackson’s plan was to minimize his team’s exposure to San Antonio’s Riverwalk, a popular downtown area lined with restaurants, bars and clubs.

“You’ve been to San Antonio,” Jackson said Thursday. “Once you’ve been there, you’ve been there enough. There’s nothing wrong with San Antonio, but it’s a convention city and it’s a tourist town, and where all the hotels are located in that town, that’s not the place you really want to spend any time.”

Asked to clarify, Jackson said, “It’s, you know, a tourist trap. There’s a lot of tourist activities. For players to go out is even difficult because, again, it’s tourists and conventioneers that are down there.”

It was unclear if he feared for his players or the conventioneers.

“I’m under the impression that as difficult as it is to get rest in the playoffs because of the tension and the anxiety and the play that goes into it,” Jackson said, “the more time you can spend in your own bed the better off you are.”

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The NBA surprised the Lakers and Spurs by advising them that Game 1 would be played Monday at the earliest, then scheduling it for Sunday.

The tentative schedule for the series is this: Game 2, Wednesday in San Antonio; Game 3, May 9 at Staples Center; Game 4, May 11 or 13, also in Los Angeles.

Both teams should be healthy. If the league chooses to play Game 4 on May 13, they will have played one game in seven days.

The Lakers would prefer the later date because Bryant has pretrial hearings in Colorado scheduled for May 10-12.

Jackson said he would have preferred to start this series on Monday. The Spurs have been off since Sunday, when they ousted the Memphis Grizzlies.

“We could have used an extra day, but it only helps San Antonio,” he said. “The longer they would have waited, the longer they would have had to spin their wheels. We have plenty of time to get ready for them as far as energy goes, as far as getting prepped physically. Mentally, that’s another guess.”

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Shaquille O’Neal (knee) and Slava Medvedenko (Achilles’ tendon) received treatment for their injuries Thursday. In a brief conversation, O’Neal downplayed the extent of his injury.... Bryon Russell, Devean George, Luke Walton and Brian Cook worked out.