NBA Playoffs could be final hurrah for these Lakers

The future of coach Phil Jackson and guard Kobe Bryant are uncertain.
By CHRIS SHERIDAN
ASSOCIATED PRESS
For Phil Jackson, this could be the perfect playoffs.
If the stars align and the earth rotates right, he can humiliate Jeff Van Gundy in the first round, de-deify Jerry West in the second round and torment Sacramento, Dallas or Minnesota in the conference finals.
And then it could really get good.
For Act IV, he'd break Red Auerbach's record of nine NBA championships by outwitting Larry Brown, Larry Bird or Larry Frank.
Nothing could compare -- except maybe being the first $10 million-a-year NBA coach and trucking his triangle offense to a new NBA city, a place where the daily dispositions of Kobe, Shaq, et al, could be slotted safely in his past.
Jackson will be free to take his act elsewhere this summer because his agent, Todd Musberger, and Lakers owner Jerry Buss broke off negotiations on a contract extension earlier this season.
"It was a roller coaster ride to say the least," Jackson said, "and here we are. We'd sure like to have another 24 hours at least to get our players healthy and prepared."
On the slate
The Lakers will begin their series against Houston on Saturday, one of four games scheduled that day, along with Indiana-Boston, New York-New Jersey and San Antonio-Memphis.
Sunday's Game 1s are Milwaukee-Detroit, Dallas-Sacramento, New Orleans-Miami and Denver-Minnesota.
The Mavericks-Kings series figures to be a smorgasbord of offense, the league's two highest-scoring teams going against each other in a rematch of a seven-game series won last spring by Dallas.
The Grizzlies-Spurs series will introduce a substantial number of basketball viewers to a Memphis team that's an unfamiliar commodity to the casual fan.
The Pacers-Celtics series should give Indiana a chance to legitimize their talents to the folks outside of Indiana that Jermaine O'Neal keeps complaining about -- the ones giving the Pacers no respect despite their 61 wins and 20-8 record against the more highly regarded West.
The other Van Gundy, Stan, brings in a Miami team that closed the season 17-4 to jump up to fourth place in the Eastern Conference and earn homecourt advantage against New Orleans, which left Jamal Mashburn off its playoff roster.
Nets seek three in a row
New York and New Jersey figure to have a series dominated by cheers for the Knicks, no matter where they play, and victories for the Nets, who are looking to make it to the NBA Finals for the third consecutive year.
Minnesota finished with the West's best record and will try to make it to the second round following seven straight first-round exits, but the Kevin Garnett, Sam Cassell and Latrell Sprewell will have to get past rookie Carmelo Anthony and his Nuggets teammates who will be looking for a repeat of an NBA rarity -- an eighth seed knocking off a No. 1 seed. It's happened only twice, but one of those teams was Denver a decade ago.
The Bucks, meanwhile, are stumbling into their series against Detroit after failing to win any of three games that would have given them the fourth seed and an easier first-round opponent. Milwaukee blew fourth-quarter leads all three times.