That is a tribute to Lions coach Warren Gatland who few pundits, scribes and global fans gave little chance of engineering, let along pulling off a drawn series.
No doubt the tourists, like the All Blacks, would have wanted closure with a series victory but you somehow get the feeling that if Gatland was offered a stalemate before he landed on the shores of his "hostile" country of birth six weeks ago he would have gleefully taken it.
It's only human to ponder on what-ifs but the composed smiles on the tourists' faces after the game spoke volumes.
ABs counterpart Steve Hansen did well to invest in an insurance policy, alluding in the post-match interviews to "a wonderful advertisement for rugby".
That is tantamount to a stay of execution for what is a great sporting festival, an atmosphere akin to what the Barmy Army conjure when England tour here in summer.
But it isn't all just a fiscal fiesta. Hopefully we have learned something from the red army on how to enjoy 80 minutes of unorchestrated entertainment without becoming ugly.
The hallmark of great supporters in any code is the propensity to laugh at themselves.
Hansen's newbies did remarkably well in a high-octane environment and will reap rewards with their pass marks later on in the international season.
As a spectacle, the third test at Eden Park, Auckland, on Saturday night was average despite a nail-biting and, how can we forget, controversial ending.
Both sides were guilty of making too many unforced errors in the 15-15 affair. Sure, the All Blacks had more opportunities in the first half but didn't capitalise.
Whether it was winger Julian Savea bombing a try-scoring chance in the fourth minute or Beauden Barrett missing penalty kicks on Saturday night, there were many what-if moments.
What is certain is the ABs need reliable conversion kickers in the mould of Owen Farrell, Dan Biggar and Elliot Daly.
I said in my previous opinion column that fans will engage in impending debates to declare their own heroes and villains.
Was referee Roman Poite correct in reversing his offside penalty to an accidental offside one to award a scrum to the ABs?
TMO George Ayoub and the two assistants on the field are there to be consulted when in doubt and Poite rightly did before reaching a decision, even if it has shades of the "hand of god" of Diego Maradona.
He went by the letter of the law in sending flanker Jerome Kaino, who again showed why he is the leader in the AB pack, to the naughty chair for 10 minutes but the Lions again seemed reluctant to take advantage of it.
Controversy left a calling card throughout the tour and that doesn't have to be a bad thing.
I heard "that's rugby" uttered many times and it is just that. Rugby's beauty lies in its grey areas left to officials' interpretations on a platform of consistency.
The offside penalty didn't go ABs' way and Ngani Laumape's deliberate slapping down of the ball in disrupting an overlap pass in the 60th didn't go the way of the Lions.
It hardly seems fair that a game which was riddled with mistakes should demand the officials deliver with celestial purity.
What isn't a cause for celebration is how players who went down like stunned mullets were cleared to play throughout the series.
ABs skipper Kieran Read didn't even make an appointment for a concussion check up after copping an elbow sandwich to the noggin from Anthony Watson while Lions lock Alun Wyn Jones remarkably returned to the field after collecting an errant arm from Kaino.
Should a medical citing commissioner be appointed to order suspects off the field immediately for check ups and should the expert be invited to attend the post-match media scrum to explain why a groggy player was miraculously back on?
Surely we've moved on from the era of Richie McCaw getting up from a head knock and rolling his arm as medics gave him time to clear his head.
It was somewhat symbolic that when Read was handed the microphone for his post-match speech before the trophy presentation and after his 100th test cap, his baby boy started crying.
Players will feel like that for some time but, perhaps until the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan, the permutations of this series will become a skeleton manuscript not only for arch rivals but also the All Blacks.
