Phil's take

After a lovely Tuesday here in Boston, the skies have opened up, greeting the Lakers with a dreary, rainy day. Inside this new Garden though, everyone seemed to be a good mood still.

Phil Jackson has been asked numerous times already how much the first two games with Boston (both double-digit losses) matter in respect to the NBA Finals, but he saved his best answer, by far, for today's media session:

``I think we had Thanksgiving Thursday here and played on Friday. We were full of turkey. It showed in our game. We weren't very competitive that night.''

As for the second game, on Dec. 30, Jackson said, ``That was much more reflective of the team. However we wore those short shorts that night and lost our attitude early in the game... I think the guys got a little tight.''