Josh Howard is Nick Anderson

That was the game everyone was waiting for last night – both teams seemed to finally realize this was the NBA Finals.

There are many a defining moment from Miami’s OT win, all of which we’ll get to in a bit.

Right now the one that won’t exit our head is Josh Howard and his multiple errors. Two missed free throws, plus the time-out that will live on in infamy should Dallas lose this series.

Josh claims he didn’t call for it – vehemently. ESPN’s Chris Sheridan scored the verbal abuse.

ESPN.com: “Josh, [ref] Joey Crawford said you called timeout twice. Is that true?”

Howard: “No. I’m going to leave it at that. No.”

ESPN.com: “A pool reporter went in there, and Joey said you called timeout not once, but twice, and we had no choice but to give them the timeout.”

Howard: “If that’s what he’s saying, that’s what he’s saying. I know I didn’t call a timeout twice. I didn’t even say nothing to anyone. I just made a sign like that.” (Howard places his hands in the shape of a “T.”)

ESPN.com: “Were you looking over at the bench when you did that?

Howard: “I was looking straight at Coach.”

ESPN.com: “Never made eye contact with the ref?”

Howard: “Never. Like for real never.”

“What am I saying to you right now, dog? Please, don’t come off on me right now because I’m going to come off on you, and I’m not in a great mood right now. Get out of my face, man. Get out of my face.”

We see where he’s coming from – what’s he gonna say? This explanation makes sense – maybe Josh was trying to ask coach Avery Johnson if he was supposed to call one.

Of course, calling a time-out there is kinda stupid, so why does he even need to ask? The refs aren’t dumb – they said he asked for one twice. On the other side of that, this game has the entire Dallas contingent calling referee conspiracy on any number of issues, anyway.

Does Howard recover mentally from this? To add to the trauma the young man must be feeling today, Getty Images, in this Josh Howard caption, claims the Heat won 1010-100.