Lakers-Bucks Proved No Other NBA Finals Matchup Will Fulfill Our Basketball Fix

In arguably the biggest game of a massive NBA weekend slate, the Los Angeles Lakers and Milwaukee Bucks delivered an absolute thriller of a heavyweight bout on Friday night.

The potential Finals preview possessed a tenacity of what you would expect from a Game 7 in June, not March, proving once and for all that this is the perfect championship matchup to fulfill our basketball fix.

When the final buzzer sounded, the Lakers clinched a playoff berth by toppling the Bucks 113-103 in the two team's final regular season fixture. It simply boasted all of the ingredients that makes playoff basketball so enthralling.

For starters, we had the two MVP favorites, LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo, turn back the clock and embrace an old school free-for-all in the post. Each time the Staples Center rose to its feet when The King found himself with the rock against the Greek Freak was chilling.

Second, and equally important, was the unrelenting defense displayed by the two NBA heavyweights from the opening tip. Each possession was a battle. No basket was easy. Neither side eclipsed the 50-point mark in the first half.

Give us that over a defense-less, offensive monsoon every time.

Despite a woeful shooting performance as a team, Milwaukee was able to overcome an 18-0 run by the Lakers in the second half -- the largest any team has mustered against the East's No. 1 seed this season -- to make things competitive down the stretch in the fourth quarter.

That alone proves that that these powerhouses were destined to slug it out in a seven-game series with a championship on the line.

We need an NBA Finals matchup between the Lakers and Bucks in the worst way.