Kobe Bryant's sexual assault trial could begin in August or early September, writes Steve Henson of the L.A. Times.

During the next hearing on May 10 through to May 12 Bryant will enter a plea to the felony charge, then his next appearance will be at some pretrial hearings beginning June 21 ? one day after the last scheduled NBA playoff game.

If you listen to Gary Payton you'll hear that the Lakers are confident that this time next week they'll be in battle with the San Antonio Spurs, but at the same time they are cautious not to under-estimate the Rockets.

"The thing is, we've got to take care of business on Wednesday night (against the Rockets)," Payton said. "The game is at our place, so we should be able to do it. You don't want to have to go back to Houston, because you never know what could happen in that situation. If they get hot, have one of those kinds of games shooting, then you've got to come back here for Game 7, and that's a situation you'd like to avoid.

"I'm sure the Rockets would like to get us into that kind of situation and take their chances. What they don't know is we ain't coming back to Houston."

Up by four late in the game the Houston Rockets were sure they had this game won.  They were close to completing a sensational comeback overtime win, and soon the series would be tied two games a piece.

"Everybody was really happy," center Yao Ming said. "The victory was right in front of our face."

Outscored 9-1 in the final two minutes, the Rockets committed two turnovers in the final 77 seconds, then failed to secure the rebound that let the Lakers clinch the win 92-88, giving the Lakers a 3-1 lead as the series now heads back to Los Angeles.  One more Rockets loss and their season is over.

"It's the most painful (loss), especially at home, when you have the game right there in your hand and somebody takes it right away from you," Rockets guard Steve Francis said.

"If a couple things go a different way, if we just make a couple different plays, we hold on to the lead, and we've got it," Rockets forward Jim Jackson said. "It's a 2-2 series."

After disposing of the Memphis Grizzlies in four straight games, the defending champion San Antonio Spurs have a new worry to contend with.

Playing well, the Spurs must wait at least another week before playing Game 1 against either the Lakers or the Rockets in San Antonio.  Will they lose any momentum gained from the Memphis series during this time, and will their opponent come in more polished fresh from playing rather than rusty from sitting around?

History this season hasn't been kind to this team when breaks are concerned.  As Buck Harvey of the San Antonio Express-News points out put the Spurs were able to put together a 13-game winning streak in late December, when a rare schedule break gave them five days off at Christmas. When they returned they lost to the lottery-bound Sixers... without Allen Iverson.

Then there was the time when the Spurs carried a five game winning streak into All-Star break. After 10 days off they barely beat Toronto and then lost to Cleveland.

"I guarantee we won't do that now," Bruce Bowen said. "That was the regular season, and this is something else. We will be focused."

"It's not an ideal situation," Popovich said of the long break, acknowledging that he and his staff would try to determine the best strategy.

The Lakers hopes for a four game sweep and thus avoiding conflicts with Kobe Bryant's court hearing dates were thrown out the window after Game 3.  

The Lakers will now be without their star for two of the teams off days leading up to Game 5 in L.A. on Wednesday night, with Kobe scheduled to appear in court on on April 26-28.  Bryant will likely arrive at Staples Center in time for the start just as he did in during the regular season.

"This is not the norm," Rick Fox said. "And outside of what we've dealt with in the regular season, we've been able to adjust and bring him up to par with what it is in terms of practice we've done, what it is in terms of a game plan. We're going to communicate. Maybe the best thing we can do is film practice and send it out to him so he can look at it between games, so at least he knows what he's doing."

There is a chance Bryant will not arrive in Los Angeles in time for the game. Karl Malone said the Lakers are aware of the possibility and they will deal with that if it happens.

"We can't worry about that," Malone said. "We're professional athletes whether Kobe is here or Kobe is not. The main percent of people in sports have a built-in excuse already, and I don't like those. So if Kobe is available, he is. If he's not, we have to step up and get the job done and not start building in an excuse already before the game is even played because you see that too much in sports already."

Gary Payton has been told to be ready on Sunday by Lakers coach Phil Jackson, but after being benched for the fourth quarter in the last two games are there bad feelings between coach and player?

Asked how Payton had taken his message, Jackson said, "Not my job to worry about that. My job is to do what I think is best for the team."

In Game 2 Jackson went with the hot hand of veteran guard Derek Fisher over Payton, giving the latter a chance to rest his sore back.  In Game 3 Fisher was once again given the nod over Payton, this time due to Payton's cold hand more than anything Fisher was doing.

"I don't know what's going on between them two, but I don't think it's something we should blow up right now," Shaquille O'Neal said. "We're on a mission here and everyone needs to be on the same page. Hopefully, those two can work those issues out."

Up three games to none in their first round playoff series against the Memphis Grizzlies, the San Antonio Spurs are looking to close out the series with a sweep.

Memphis has been a Cinderella team this season, winning a franchise best 50 games en route to their first ever Playoffs campaign, but after losing seven in a row and nine of their past ten they are all but done.

The Spurs, meanwhile, have not lost since March 23 and have the fact that no team has ever come back to win an NBA playoff series after losing the first three games on their side.  The Spurs are all but guaranteed a spot in the second round against the Lakers... should they be able to hold off the Houston Rockets of course.  Jerry Crowe of the L.A. Times reports that the Lakers hold a 3-1 advantage against San Antonio this season, but Spurs coach Greg Popovich was quick to point out this was misleading.

"We couldn't have beat your Budweiser team three times before Christmas," Popovich said.  The three losses came in the first five weeks of the season when the Spurs were trying to find their feet.

Memphis will look to lean on the experience of guard Bonzi Wells, who last season found his Portland Trail Blazers down 0-3 to the Dallas Mavericks before rallying back to force a Game 7.

"It's like I'm experiencing deja vu," Wells said.

With Slava Medvedenko questionable for Game 3 Friday Lakers coach Phil Jackson may have no choice but to look in the direction of rookies Brian Cook and Luke Walton to fill the void and back up future hall of famer Karl Malone.

Medvedenko strained his right achilles tendon and had to take an MRI exam.  Luckily for the Los Angeles the MRI discovered that there was no tear but there was some inflammtion.

"We feel confident that even though we have inexperienced players behind him, we'll still get the job accomplished if he's not healthy enough to play," Jackson said against Medvedenko.

The Lakers' romp was predictable, but at some point in the next few playoff weeks, it's going to come down to a point, and Shaquille O'Neal.

Now here's the deal. If you log on to http://www.planters.com , scroll down to "chances to win," click the doohickey that says, "You could instantly win tickets to the NCAA Men's 2005 Final Four," register and then watch Mr. Peanut try a free throw and miss badly ? you'll get the feeling what it's really like to be Shaq.

According to the rules, the odds of Mr. Peanut making a free throw and allowing someone to win a trip to the Final Four, are 150,000 to 1, or the same odds you'd probably give Shaq these days to make a free throw.

When Coach Jeff Van Gundy wasn't chiding Phil Jackson before Monday's game, he was pumping up Bryant, calling him everything but the best player he has ever seen.

It's not a bad strategy to compliment Bryant ? Houston guard Cuttino Mobley has mastered a perfectly believable wince whenever he's asked if he's a suitable Kobe stopper ? but Van Gundy seemed earnest in his flattery.

"One thing I don't understand from the outside is all the criticism of him," Van Gundy said. "I've never understood it. What I see and what I read, and what I coach against are two different things. The guy is great.

"He competes hard every night. He passes when he should pass, and shoots when he should shoot, and he just has an ability to create a good shot for himself."