LOS ANGELES — Perhaps it should have been taken as an omen when, on his very first drive, Giannis Antetokounmpo realized he had broken the skin of his lip.

NBA teams have spent the season so far searching for any small sign of weakness and have found precious few in the 6-foot-11, muscle-bound forward’s game. They’ve had an even harder time cracking his Milwaukee Bucks, who entered Staples Center on Friday night with the best record in the league and a budding reputation as the title favorite.

That still might be the case. But at the very least, for one night. LeBron James made the Bucks – and their star – bleed.

A hotly anticipated battle of the top teams in the Eastern and Western conferences ended in a 113-103 Lakers win, as James and Anthony Davis combined for 67 points in a slow-paced, possession-by-possession game that mirrored the feel of the postseason. And while the regular-season series ended with a 1-1 split with each team successfully defending its home court, the final meeting surely felt like a counterpoint to the case that’s been building in Milwaukee for a historically great title-contender.

It was a win that clinched the Lakers’ first playoff berth since 2013, ending an unprecedented run of futility for a franchise that had mostly known success. But the result was a reminder of the potential that they still can reach.

“I came here to put this team and put this franchise back where they needed to be,” James said. “The league is not what it is if the Lakers are not winning.”

The evening unfolded entirely in James’ comfort zone. The possessions slowed, allowing him to work the half-court offense methodically. The whistles were blown freely, giving James another weapon on his drives as he drew contact time after time – and he even converted the free-throw attempts he got (12 for 15). He finished with 37 points, eight rebounds and seven assists.

While James is likely too far behind in key statistics and wins to catch Antetokounmpo for the actual award, throughout the stellar second half, he was bathed by the reverberating cheers in Staples Center: “M-V-P! M-V-P!”

James has been here before. And Antetokounmpo still looks up to him.

“Whenever you bring the ball down, whenever you go against him, you can feel greatness,” he said. “I’ve said it in the past: that’s what I want to be.”

Antetokounmpo got numbers with 32 points, 12 rebounds and six assists, but his night wasn’t efficient, shooting 10 for 21. Whereas in December, he stroked 3-pointers with ease, he was 1 for 6 from deep – a key change in the rematch.

Several Lakers pointed to James taking on his MVP counterpart as a turning point in the game. When Anthony Davis racked up three fouls in the first half, leading to a tedious 19-point first quarter, the Lakers realized a change was necessary. James told Davis to take Wes Matthews to start the half – he would take Antetokounmpo.

James wound up with three steals. His energy had a trickle-down effect on the Lakers’ roster.

“I felt like the way he played tonight, it was like Defensive Player of the Year type of defense,” veteran guard Avery Bradley said. “And whenever he plays with that intensity, I feel like it gets everyone going. We’ve been saying it all year, it’s contagious. When our leaders are able to play at that level, man, it raises everybody’s intensity.”

On a night when their 3-point shots were not falling (6 for 32), the Lakers (48-13) made it a fight in a phonebooth, their superior physicality winning out. The Lakers won the rebounding battle (52-46) and had more points in the paint (50-46).

It felt very much like a classic playoff game that James, even at 35, still has the power to take over. In the same game he became the third man ever to score at least 34,000 points, he also hammered a dunk onto the face of Brook Lopez, an all-defensive team candidate.

James broke his team out of a halftime deadlock with nine points in the first four minutes, then fanned that spark into a control-clinching 18-0 run. While he led his team in scoring, it was his ability to uncork Anthony Davis (30 points) in a blistering two-man game that showcased how dangerous their pick-and-roll will be even against the NBA’s best.

Davis closed with a flourish, scoring 25 points in the second half (as did James). After a foul-plagued first half, Davis said the big difference was simply “being in the game.”

Four other Bucks (53-10) scored in double figures, notably Donte DiVincenzo with 17. But Milwaukee’s 3-point-centric scheme faltered, as they too shot a subpar 28 percent from deep.

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Lakers keep their guard up, taking upset-minded Nuggets with caution The air in Staples Center crackled with electricity on the possessions when James and Antetokounmpo were matched up one-on-one. Among the more memorable sequences came one in the third quarter: James backed down the Greek Freak, scoring on a goaltending call when Antetokounmpo reached a gigantic hand through the net. The Bucks star knocked down a 3-pointer on the other end, momentarily quieting the chants starting to circulate Staples Center. But they only grew again, as James drove in for a tough layup against Antetokounmpo and Middleton.

James got the last laugh, a dunk in the game’s final 30 seconds before subbing out.

It will be the final word between these teams until at least June, the earliest time they could meet in the NBA Finals. Evening the series offered a look at what the Lakers would bring to the table in that tantalizing hypothetical.

“A lot of times in the playoffs, that’s what the playoff games feel like: You’re exerting so much energy on the defensive end, that it’s not just a track meet, and you don’t get as many easy buckets in transition,” Coach Frank Vogel said. “But down the stretch, you have to control the pace and make sure you get a good shot every time down. And our guys were great at just executing at crunch time while they made their runs.”