I grew up in the 1980s.

Saw the Sixers-Celtics rivalry, the Lakers-Celtics rivalry and the Pistons-Bulls rivalry.

Doc choked Bird. McHale took down Rambis. Bad Boys put the Jordan Rules on M.J.

Saw the New York Knicks when they dueled with the Miami Heat and Indiana Pacers in the ’90s.

Zo  and Grandmama went at it. John Starks head butted Reggie Miller.

Those were battles. Tough. Physical. Intense. The essence of playoff basketball.

What’s going on between the Heat and Pacers in this year’s Eastern Conference semifinals isn’t at that level. In fact, it’s reach a point of bush league.

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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.

Glen Rice could light it up.

Boy, not putting Wilt Chamberlain on my greatest 1-on-1 players in NBA history caught me some flak.

Good.

Not putting the greatest of all time,  Michael Jordan, atop that list caught me even more flak.

Even better.

I’m trying to make you all think out the box a bit. So today, I’m talking about the guys who jump shot I envied. The guys who when they shot it, you thought it was going to go in 10 times out of 10 because it looked so good coming out of their hands.

Now before I go any further, these guys are not only list: Dennis Scott, Allan Houston, Rick Barry, Pistol Pete Maravich, Peja Stojakovic, Dirk Nowitzki, Paul Pierce, Stephen Curry, Wesley Person, George Gervin, Alex English, Hal Greer, Michael Redd, Michael Jordan or Chris Mullin.

Trust me, I want to put Mullin on this list. Sorry Chris.

Here we go.

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