The Lakers’ Lamar Odom, celebrating a second-quarter basket last night, was held out of practice Saturday but has not revealed what is ailing him.

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AP / Winslow Townson

BOSTON — The old Boston Garden didn’t have air conditioning, so it could be a sweat box at times, especially during the NBA Finals in late spring.

In Game Five of the 1985 finals, for example, when the temperature hit 98 degrees indoors, Boston’s Larry Bird was the hottest player in the building, getting 34 points and 17 rebounds in a 121-103 victory for a 3-2 advantage. The Celtics lost Game Six in Los Angeles before winning Game Seven at the Garden, 111-102.

Nowadays, in the TD Banknorth Garden, which opened in 1995, it’s anything but warm. In fact, some of the Lakers were bemoaning the cold of the last few days.

“During my short time here, this building was always on the cold side,” said Chris Mihm, who played for the Celtics during the second half of the 2003-04 season. “It was cold today. But I’ve never felt it the way it was yesterday at practice. I was waiting to see if I could see my breath during warmups. It was unbelievable.”

Mihm said he was jumping up and down just to stay warm before Friday’s practice despite wearing a long-sleeve cotton shirt over his jersey.

Ronny Turiaf described the building as “super cold” during the Lakers’ shootaround several hours before last night’s game.

“Today was even colder than the first day,” he said, referring to the shootaround before Game One.

Guessing game

All of the injury focus was on the Celtics prior to Game Two, but the Lakers had an injury issue of their own. However, they shrouded it in a bit of mystery.

Lamar Odom did not take part in a light practice Saturday. Asked what his issue was, the ex-Rhody Ram said, “Teacher’s pet today. I’ve got a couple parts of my body that just need to heal up a little bit, that’s it.”

What body parts, exactly?

“I can’t tell you, man. (The Celtics) might attack it.”

Shifting gears

Lakers coach Phil Jackson, tied with Red Auerbach with an NBA-record nine championships as a head coach, admitted he goes with a different approach at this time of year.

“I think there’s a sense of urgency,” he said. “Less time to allow a player to adjust sometimes. You see things going in the other direction, you call time out quicker.”

Jackson, 62, who coached the Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls to six championships in the 1990s and the Lakers to three more from 2000-02, has been known for not calling quick timeouts and letting his players work their way through bad stretches.

Jackson has a 9-1 record in the finals, with the only loss coming four years ago when the Lakers were beaten by the Detroit Pistons in five games.

Auerbach, who died in October 2006, coached the Celtics to nine championships. .

A quick exit

Lakers owner Jerry Buss entered a $10,000 seven-card stud tournament in Las Vegas on Saturday. The three-day event was part of the World Series of Poker being played at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino. Buss was eliminated on the first day.

Buss, known to be an avid poker player who enters tournaments and plays high-stakes cash games, won about $33,000 to finish third in a seven-card stud tournament at the 1991 World Series of Poker.

A new entry

The seldom-used Trevor Ariza was at small forward for the Lakers early in last night’s game. He was the first Lakers player off the bench, replacing Vladimir Radmanovic after Radmanovi picked up his second foul with 10:03 left in the first quarter.

Ariza, who missed most of the season because of a fractured bone in his foot, earned a spot in the rotation because of his defense.

Pivotal game

Before Game Two of the NBA Finals began last night, the Lakers knew what they were up against. A loss would make winning the NBA championship a daunting task.

Only three teams have ever come back from an 0-2 deficit in the Finals to win the championship, the last being the Miami Heat in 2006.

No team has ever come back from a 3-0 deficit to win a playoff series in NBA history.

Travel review

Someone asked Jackson for a Boston “travel review.”

“It’s very green,” he said, adding, “Boston Commons, Public Gardens, very green.”

There are also those Celtics banners hanging off the light posts, the “Beat L.A.” T-shirts on much of the populace , and the giant “Beat L.A.” sign hanging from city hall — the most prominent, eye-catching item in the expansive plaza at Government Center.

The Riverside Press-Enterprise and the Associated Press contributed to this report

kmcnamar@projo.com