It’s spring, which means planting flowers, playing golf and, if you’re an NBA player or coach, complaining about officiating.

There has been quite a bit of that in these playoffs, and it didn’t help when the NBA rescinded a technical against Michael Finley from San Antonio’s overtime game against Dallas. As their series wound down, the Suns and Mavs were sending dueling complaints to the league office about the other’s alleged cheap shots and dirty play.

NBA commissioner David Stern said he has had about enough. He believes the actions of the players and coaches trickle down to the fans and cast doubt on the game. He has quietly told the players and coaches to button it.

“We’ve sort of delivered the message to the coaches,” Stern said. “(When) a coach loses a game because a call went the wrong way, I’m never going to say you can’t let off some steam.

“When we started the season we said, ‘Let’s tell the assistant coaches they don’t have a lot to add to the dialogue with the officials,”‘ Stern said. “Next season’s project will be to persuade the players. Since I’ve been commissioner there have probably been 35,000 calls a season times 22, and the next call that gets overturned because a player complained will be the first. So it’s not a productive enterprise.”

But if the NBA really wants to help the officials, it could do something about the block/charge, which remains the call most frequently questioned. So many players are flopping, you wonder if the “skill” is taught before dribbling in Europe.

The league installed the small circle under the basket as a restricted zone where a player cannot draw a charge. But the best way to end the bogus practice is to stop calling so many charges. A charge should be called only when a defender plays good defense and moves his feet and still gets run over by the player he is guarding.

Even though zones are allowed now, hardly anyone plays them for more than a few minutes. Sliding over to get in front of a driver is hardly good defense. It’s a trick, and it’s time the NBA recognized that.

Meanwhile as far as the Knicks’ soap opera. …

“Dead man walking” was Larry Brown’s description last week of his amazing situation in New York, where a classic game of chicken goes on. The Knicks want Brown to quit so they don’t have to pay him the $40 million he is owed for four more years. Brown wants it. So Brown’s bosses are not talking to him as he works out draft prospects. They hope Brown will violate his contract by not showing up at the predraft camp this week. Others say Brown will go to the camp to network for another job.

Only a year ago New York reporters were staking out Brown’s Long Island home and getting comments from him about becoming Knicks coach to save the franchise. Now they’re yelling questions in a similarly surreal scene as Brown leaves the Knicks’ training facility each day. Police were called one day to keep the reporters back.

They now huddle on a traffic island near the facility. Last week, they watched as Brown’s and general manager Isiah Thomas’ cars nearly collided in the rain as the two sought to avoid the media. Typical of the Knicks’ situation, they missed.