Oh how we forget.

On TNT, Hall of Famer Charles Barkley said Indiana Pacers reserve Lance Stephenson shouldn’t have given the choke sign when LeBron James missed a free throw Thursday night in Game 3 against the Miami Heat.

The Heat lost, 94-75, before winning Game 4 Sunday to even series at 2-2.

In clip below, you’ll see at the :57 second mark Larry Bird miss two free throws in a loss to the Sixers in the 1985-86 season. Julius Erving hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer off a jump ball Barkley tipped to him.

It’s a great play by Barkley, huge shot by Dr. J., but guess who’s giving the choke sign after rebounding the second Bird miss.

Oh Charles.

Up next for Kevin Garnett and the Boston Celtics? An familiar rival. The Philadelphia 76ers./AP Photo.

Whenever these two teams met in the 1980s, it was classic.

Bird vs. Dr. J. McHale vs. Barkley. Moses vs. Parish.

Go back even further to the 1960s. Legends emerged.

Wilt vs. Russell. Havlicek vs. Greer. Jones vs. Walker.

On Saturday, the Sixers and Celtics will renew their rivalry in the Eastern Conference semifinals as the two teams haven’t faced each in the postseason since 2002 when the first round was still a best-of-5 series.

Boston won 3-2.

Who will take this series and likely face Miami in the conference finals?

Go Green.

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Charles Barkley loves him. So does Reggie Miller.

Ivan Johnson impressed Barkley, a Hall of Famer, and Miller, a future Hall of Famer, with his effort for the Atlanta Hawks in their 116-109 triple-overtime home loss Thursday night to the Miami Heat, who were without injured stars LeBron James and Dwyane Wade.

Johnson, who starred for the Erie BayHawks last season, had 13 points Thursday night that included a coast-to-coast jam in the third quarter.

Johnson added four rebounds for the Hawks before fouling out in the third and final overtime.

If the NBA stays in lockout mode for the entire season, I may miss the interviews more than the play and the players.

Having been in my share of NBA locker rooms and at my share of press conferences over the years, you have a good idea of what a player might say. Most use cliche lines like, “We played hard” or “We wanted to come out with great energy.”

But then there are those who throw caution to the wind and either say what pops in their head or what has been on their mind for so long that they can’t contain it anymore.

Now we’re going to get some real doozys if the lockout goes all season, but right now, check out some of the ones that have always left me either laughing, scratching my head or amazed.

Allen Iverson – “We talking about practice.”

I miss A.I.

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Just came across Charles Barkley welcoming Shaquille O’Neal to TNT to work with Ernie Johnson, Kenny “The Jet” Smith and Chris Webber.

Still gonna need to clear some space on the desk for the Diesel, but Barkley basically told O’Neal he can’t upset Johnson, who is the host of the show.

“Second thing, pretty much nothing after that matters,” Barkley said. “Ernie is the man.”

With that being, we don’t want to see Barkley and O’Neal do this again. For those two to be athletes, they’ll never be mistaken for Muhammad Ali.

If Oklahoma City can't find an answer for Memphis PF Zach Randolph, it will fall to the eighth-seeded Grizzlies in Sunday's Game 7./AP Photo

1-2 so far. Not good.

Chicago over Atlanta is the only conference semifinal prediction I’ve gotten right in this year’s NBA Playoffs.

Picked Boston in six games. The Celtics lost in five to the Miami Heat.

Picked the Los Angeles Lakers in six games. The two-time defending NBA champions were swept by the Dallas Mavericks.

I could see the Miami one, coming because age was going to catch Boston sooner or later, but Dallas sweeping the Lakers? The only people who picked that besides Charles Barkley (He’s been on during these playoffs) are Dallas owner Mark Cuban and his closest family members.

Everyone else went with the Lakers.

Now I picked Oklahoma City to take down Memphis in six games, but we’re going to have a deciding Game 7 today to determine who will face the Mavericks in the Western Conference finals.

Can’t see Kevin Durant having two bad games in a row so I’m pretty confident in my Thunder pick, but Memphis won’t go down easily. Got too many tough guys. The Grizzlies are more than capable of winning today.

But they won’t.

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He's in a new uniform, but same foe awaits LeBron James in the NBA playoffs - the Boston Celtics./Photo by AP.

Goodbye Shield. Welcome back logo.

With the NFL Draft ending today, let’s talk NBA Playoffs.

The first round was good. Correction. It was great.

The Memphis Grizzlies stunned everyone except Charles Barkley in beating the top-seeded San Antonio Spurs in six games, the Boston Celtics posted the only sweep in a first-round series and Oklahoma City Thunder All-Star Kevin Durant has been the best player in the playoffs so far.

Now the conference semifinals are here. We’ve got the match up everyone wants (Miami Heat vs. the Celtics), the one we didn’t expect (Grizzlies vs. Thunder), the one that will end quickly (Atlanta Hawks vs. the Bulls) and the one that will last longer than it should (Los Angeles Lakers vs. the Dallas Mavericks).

Let’s do this:

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I love Slim Chin.

“Cause I’m faaaaaaaaast.”

Dude is hilarious, but I must say, there have been better tandems in which the hip actor teams up with the b-baller.

Here’s my Top 5.

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Halftime: Cleveland coach Byron Scott not happy with team. Charles Barkley said the Cavs shouldn’t be chatting it up with James on the bench. Says it’s lack of being competitive.
1. LeBron James starts Q hot.
2. D-Wade is just as hot.
3. LeBron scored two easy buckets and Cleveland called timeout early in Q.
4. When Miami got it rolling, Cleveland started giving up. Weak fouls.
5. LeBron caught a lob pass from D-Wade with one hand and laid it in.
6. 88-55 Heat with 2:50 left. Wow.
7. A little rowdy nature in the stands. Drunk fan arrested.
8. 20 points in the Q for LeBron.
9. LeBron to the rim again – and 1 (Missed FT 36 points, season high 22 in third).
10. LeBron ended Q with 38 points (24 in the Q – went 1o of 12). His last bucket, messed with Cavs fans Miami 95-65.

1. Pre-game hype man Ahmad Crump.
“If you believe in Dan Gilbert, make some noise.”
“This is the capacity for the other team
“I’m predicting a win for the Cavs.”
2. Very loud cheers for Charles Barkley when he, Kenny Smith and Ernie Johnson took the floor for the TNT show (I thought the Cleveland fans hated Charles. They dont’ know since he said ragged on LeBron James)
3. Fans waved towels. Look like playoff game when Cavs came out.
4. LeBron James came out skipping to some very loud boos from fans. Dunking in layup line. Did a windmill dunk off that bounced off the back of the rim.
5.  Did his powder routine.
6. Didn’t wear the brace (Arroyo had one on)
7. Josh Cribbs, Bernie Kosar, Shaun Rogers, Ron Harper, Michael Bivins, Drew Carey, Joe Haden, Terrell Owens.