Once upon a time, Phil Jackson was a TV color commentator.

Unless you happened to be in New Jersey in 1981, you missed it. But what Jackson is offering up right now is surely better than anything he mumbled about the Nets back then.

Jackson is in full-fledged hype-building mode for the Lakers and Celtics on Christmas.

"It's one of 82, but we only see the Celtics twice," Jackson said.

This was even better: "If we can stop their streak, that's a significant thing."

Jackson revealed the gist of his pregame speech when he brought up the Lakers' collapse in Game 4 of the NBA Finals, saying that the Lakers must be out to avenge that disastrous second half played on their home court.

Jackson also dropped some carrots out there about this being "a growing point" for Andrew Bynum, who missed the NBA Finals because of his knee injury and will be ordered to flex the muscle the Lakers lacked last spring.

This is not the same Jackson who once brushed off these made-for-TV Christmas spectacles as fundamentally wrong.

"The Lakers should play the Clippers, and the Knicks should play the Nets, so everyone can stay home," Jackson would say.

This one, though, is a true working holiday for Jackson. There is business to which he and his team must attend.

Usually Mr. Stay-in-the-Moment, Jackson has not tried to stifle his players' obsession with the Celtics this season. He believes that so much of what the Lakers did wrong against Boston needs to be remembered if the team is going to improve enough to win next time.

That's why the Lakers have this full Christmas list, but when you get down to it, there are really two must-haves:

Share the ball and have everyone be a threat when Boston throws its physical defense at Kobe Bryant.

(The Lakers' victory in New Orleans on Tuesday night was a perfect preparation on that front, with the Hornets swarming Bryant but not stopping him from helping everyone else get involved on offense.

Former Celtic James Posey shoved Bryant to the floor at one point for a technical foul, too.)

Unleash the revamped defense that lets loose far more double teams, plus the necessary rotations behind them. (No longer will Paul Pierce be able to stand there on the wing and go to work against a single Lakers defender, who more often this time will be Trevor Ariza instead of Vladimir Radmanovic. Ariza said he has played against Pierce a lot in summer pickup ball, by the way.)

Jackson hoped the Lakers would position themselves well for Boston by finding their stride on the recent trip. Even though it began with two close losses and Jordan Farmar being lost to injury, the Lakers won the last two and built themselves back up: "I didn't like the way we were when we started," Jackson said.

After beating New Orleans to wrap it up, Bryant joked about how many times he has been asked what the Lakers learned from losing to Boston. He wasn't going as far as Jackson in promoting the revenge game but did acknowledge the intrigue, saying: "If I wasn't playing, I'd be tuning in like everybody else."

If you want to be there in person, you can ante up for brokered tickets online courtside seats are running around $6,000 apiece. And if anyone needs any more convincing that the emotion set to spill out on the Staples Center floor will be worth watching, just ask Lakers guard Sasha Vujacic.

In a manifestation of his focus on beating the Celtics, Vujacic has made a point not to wear the color green since the NBA Finals ended.

"When we kick their (rear), I'll wear green," he said Tuesday night.

Vujacic means in the next NBA Finals — I guess Vujacic isn't counting on LeBron James carrying the Cavaliers there — but there's no doubt about how much this upcoming matchup means to him, too.

"We've got to show them it's our time," Vujacic said.

The Celtics' 27 victories are already the most to start a season against just two losses, and they'll be shooting for a 20th consecutive victory to move past the 1999-2000 Lakers into a tie for the third-best streak in NBA history.

The Celtics are not, however, overly concerned with this one game.

"We circle all the games," Boston's Kevin Garnett said. "And if you're on the schedule, we don't decline any shows."

The thing about regular-season games is that the team that wants it more usually gets it — unless said team just isn't good enough to get it.

The Lakers absolutely want this game more.

They'd better get it.