It has been suggested this is the greatest NBA season since, well, forever. Or going back at least to the 1980s, when the Bird Celtics and Magic Lakers were electrifying sports viewing.

But 2007-08 can’t be far behind. And as Exhibit Z we give you the Lakers-Warriors affray Monday night in Oakland.Not even 10 minutes into the second half, I told my father-in-law, “I feel like I’ve seen a great game and the third quarter isn’t even over.”

It was a long, slow game — but in a great way. Like finding out your vacation in the Bahamas has been extended five days. Or that dessert comes with that four-course meal at a Paris restaurant. Or that half-hour massage actually is a full hour. The original concept (Lakers, Warriors, not even three full quarters) was great. And it had at least 30 minutes to go. It was way more than we could reasonably expect.

The Lakers always are interesting because of Kobe Bryant. And then add in the role players who have been stepping forward as Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol have gone down with injuries, guys like Sasha Vujacic and Jordan Farmar and Vlad Radmanovic … and they’re just fun to watch. They like each other, they play well, they have pride in themselves and the franchise.

Put them against the Warriors, Don Nelson’s high-speed high-wire act, and it’s mayhem. In a riveting sort of way.

Bryant nearly described Golden State’s style the night before when he said the Warriors “are like the Suns on steroids.” Now, this probably isn’t a good point in sports history to be broaching steroids, but everyone knew what he meant. Even more kinetic. Even more hyper. Even more this-close-to-being-out-of-control.

The Warriors (and their iconoclastic coach, Don Nelson) want to run and gun early in the clock, often from behind the arc, if they can’t get a dunk or a layup in transition, and they like it when you shoot early, too, because they want to take your misses and get back to attacking.

They did it well enough to win at Staples on Sunday, and to lead most of the game Monday.

Then the Lakers figured out how they could beat the Warriors, and what had been an up-and-down frolic turned into a Phil Jackson coaching clinic.

Much as they did two years ago, when they took the Suns to seven games in the playoffs, the Lakers turned the opposition’s speed and athleticism — and lack of size — against them.

Even without Bynum or Gasol as traditional low-post presences, the Lakers got to the rim again and again with Lamar Odom and Ronny Turiaf, a couple of big forwards forced into the paint.

Odom, in particular, trashed the Warriors, who have zero answer for his size and quickness. He scored 23, which is a lot, for Lamar, but he also took 21 rebounds, an enormous number in the modern NBA. The Lakers also got 11 and 8 from Turiaf, and that ability to score in the paint gave them the easy baskets that erased a 12-point deficit and put them ahead late in the third quarter.

We even had a bit of heroism thrown in. Bryant’s cheek was split open by Baron Davis’s elbow, and it was the kind of deep and ugly cut you associate with prize fights. But trainer Gary Vitti glued Bryant’s face together again, and he went on to play 52 of the 53 minutes. (Did we mention it went OT?)

The Lakers looked as if they had nailed it down when they led 110-101 with 2:36 left, but they made a couple of turnovers, Odom missed a free throw in the final 10 seconds and Golden State outscored them 10-1 down the stretch. When Derek Fisher’s off-balance jumper at the buzzer didn’t come close, it was OT.

Golden State jumped up in the extra session, and the Lakers looked ragged. My father-in-law, a fan who is, let’s just say, “involved” as a spectator, had been shouting protestations of turnovers and easy Warriors baskets during the game, and when it got to 117-113 with 1:39 he bolted up from his chair and said, “I’m going to bed.” His daughter said, “after watching the whole game?” And he said, “They’re going to lose and I don’t want to see it.”

But then Fisher drained a three-pointer off a Bryant kickout, and it was a one-point game. Vujacic added another three a moment later, and the Lakers led — and never gave it up. Bryant iced it with a pair of cold-blooded FTs three seconds left.

So, great game. Why? Great individual plays, such as Monta Ellis’s alley-oop three to end the half, Baron Davis slicing into the lane, Stephen Jackson banging in threes, Odom’s deft maneuvering in the paint, clutch threes by Fisher and Sasha. Action, action, action. A clash of distinct styles and the analytical pleasure of seeing the Lakers realize what they had to do to win … and doing it.

In the first half, I was saying, “This is a team the Lakers wouldn’t want to see, in the playoffs” but by the end I had changed my mind. Assuming a reasonable complement of players (with Gasol back, at the least), the Lakers can go “big” enough to handle the Warriors in a best-of-seven.

And in a wider view … this was just another great game in a season of them. Made possible by the emergence of a dozen (at least) genuinely competent, verging-on-very-good teams. The Celtics, especially early, when they looked like they would take a run at the Bulls’ record of 72 victories in a season. And the Pistons. Cleveland is always competitive, because of LeBron James. And Orlando is the Next Big Thing.

And then all the Western teams got it going, with New Orleans coming out of the woodwork to contend. And the Lakers, the Suns, Spurs, Mavericks, Jazz, Warriors, Nuggets … and then Houston running off a 22-game winning streak, second-longest in NBA history.

The big trades that transformed the Lakers (Gasol), Suns (Shaq) and Mavericks (Jason Kidd), all that … and I can say with confidence that I am paying more attention to the NBA right now than in any season since at least the 1980s. Any matchup involving the 13 teams I just mentioned … I will watch. And the fact that those teams do NOT all play the same way (could the Warriors and, say, the Cavaliers approach the game more differently?) … just makes it more fun.

If the playoffs are only just-as-good as the regular season … it’s been a great ride. If they are better … this is a season for all time.