And what a story it is folks. Higgs has proved the doubters wrong and busted through the last of the regular season earning not only the Rookie of the Year award, but also the league leader in scoring! But you know, that wasn't quite enough for him. Hungry for more victory, he helped the Heat power through the playoffs sweeping the Cavs (who where the 8th seed) in 4 games and going on to face the Magic in the second round. It was a serious battle with the dominant Dwight Howard, taking the first two games at home and dropping two in Orlando. We held in for the final two however and went on to beat them in six.
This led to an amazing series in the Eastern Conference finals with the Heat taking on their northern rivals, the Boston Celtics. This was one for the ages, with Bosh getting injured in the first game in Miami and although he still played, was seriously subdued. We lost game one at home and fought valiantly to at least claim game two on our home court. Then we shifted to Boston where the Celtics showed us how they protect their home court and busted us up in the next two games in TD Garden. Ray Allen was devouring us from downtown and Perkins (I started MP before the big trades) was clogging up the paint something serious. Down 1-3 with our NBA Finals hopes in the wings, we fought hard to get our next win at home. Heading back to Boston, things were looking rough, with us down in the series 2-3 we had to win out to make our way to the Finals. Sure enough, we were able to do just that with LeBron going off for a triple double in Boston in Game 6. Tied up 3-3 we took advantage of our home court and dominated them in the final game shooting an outrageous 54% as a team with Higgs and Wade being key in the clutch and keeping them from a comeback in the fourth quarter with some amazing 3 pointers in the final few minutes of the game. Definitely the most exciting series I've played so far.
Compared to the Eastern Conference Finals, the actual NBA Finals felt like a pushover. We met up with the Jazz of all teams, that D-Will had led there through all of the West. In fact I think they beat the Thunder in the Western Conf Finals to get there. The series was a joke as we dominated the Jazz sweeping them in just four games. Bit of a let down as far as a challenge, but Higgs was more than happy with his stellar performance and hardware to prove it as he won Finals MVP in his rookie year!
It was the culmination of a fantastic rookie year for Higgs that, although fraught with injury, still showed the league he would be a force to be reckoned with for years to come. The only sad part was really for the Heat as even in their celebration of their second ever NBA Championship, Higgs was looking for somewhere his talents could be more appreciated. Drafted to a team that already had a big three, it was only through his unexpected greatness he managed to get the minutes he did. Now it was time to leave this big three to find a team where his need would be much greater. Three teams came calling in the offseason looking for some help on their squad. Perennial greats, the LA Lakers were the first to call. With Kobe aging in the 2 guard position, he was just what they would need to revitalize their franchise for years to come. Secondly Orlando came looking for an up and coming talent to stick next to Dwight Howard in their race for their first championship title.
Ultimately though, it was the team closest to his heart that got him to sign. Chicago with their stampeding Bulls had finished 3rd in the East, but suffered a first round upset and fell out of the playoffs early. With a budding superstar in Derrick Rose, an energetic and charismatic center in Joakim Noah, a strong low post presence in Carlos Boozer and a hard working, blue collar guy in Luol Deng, Chicago's greatest need was just what Higgs aka The Beast™ could provide: scoring at the 2 spot. He was welcomed with open arms and through a hard offseason of intense practices and workouts, he's starting to feel right at home.
We started the new season with a bang, rushing out to a 6-0 lead on the season knocking the Heat from the number one Power Ranking spot and showing the league that we're for real this year. Higgs is averaging 56 points a game shooting 58% and 65% from deep, along with 7 rebounds and 3 assists. Oh and those Lakers I was talking about? Yeah...this is what I think of that:
So things are heated up, I'm trying to get on the All-Star team this year, get the MVP and make the All-NBA First team. Time to bring another three-peat to Chi-town.
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