1994–95 Orlando Magic season

The 1994–95 Orlando Magic season was the sixth season for the Orlando Magic in the National Basketball Association.^[1] After building through the NBA draft in the previous years, the Magic made themselves even stronger by signing free agents Horace Grant, who won three NBA championships with the Chicago Bulls from 1991 to 1993,^[2][3][4] and Brian Shaw during the off-season.^[5][6][7]

With the addition of Grant and Shaw, the Magic got off to a 2–2 start to the regular season, but then posted a nine-game winning streak between November and December afterwards. The team won 26 of their first 32 games of the season, and later on held a 37–10 record at the All-Star break.^[8] Despite losing seven of their final eleven games of the season in April, the Magic won the Atlantic Division title with a 57–25 record, earning the first seed in the Eastern Conference, and qualifying for their second NBA playoff appearance;^[9][10] the team also finished with a 39–2 home record at the Orlando Arena, which was tied for second-best in NBA history.

Shaquille O'Neal continued to dominate the NBA by averaging 29.3 points, 11.4 rebounds and 2.4 blocks per game, and was named to the All-NBA Second Team, while second-year star Penny Hardaway averaged 20.9 points, 7.2 assists and 1.7 steals per game, and was named to the All-NBA First Team, and Grant provided the team with 12.8 points and 9.7 rebounds per game, and was named to the NBA All-Defensive Second Team. In addition, Nick Anderson contributed 15.8 points and 1.6 steals per game, and led the Magic with 179 three-point field goals, while three-point specialist Dennis Scott played a sixth man role off the bench, averaging 12.9 points per game and contributing 150 three-point field goals, and Donald Royal provided with 9.1 points and 4.0 rebounds per game as the team's starting small forward. Also off the bench, Shaw contributed 6.4 points and 5.2 assists per game, while Anthony Bowie contributed 5.5 points per game, and Anthony Avent averaged 3.6 points and 4.1 rebounds per game.^[11]

During the NBA All-Star weekend at the America West Arena in Phoenix, Arizona, O'Neal and Hardaway were both selected for the 1995 NBA All-Star Game, as members of the Eastern Conference All-Star team, while head coach Brian Hill was selected to coach the Eastern Conference; it was Hardaway's first ever All-Star appearance.^[12][13][14] Meanwhile, Anderson participated in the NBA Three-Point Shootout.^[15][16] O'Neal also finished in second place in Most Valuable Player voting, behind David Robinson of the San Antonio Spurs, while Hardaway finished in tenth place,^[17][18] and Scott finished in fifth place in Sixth Man of the Year voting.^[19][18]

In the Eastern Conference First Round of the 1995 NBA playoffs, the Magic faced off against the 8th–seeded Boston Celtics, a team that featured All-Star forward Dominique Wilkins, second-year star Dino Radja, and Dee Brown. The Magic won Game 1 over the Celtics at the Orlando Arena by a 47-point margin win, 124–77;^[20][21][22] however, the Magic lost Game 2 to the Celtics at home, 99–92, which tied the series at 1–1.^[23][24][25] The Magic won the next two games on the road, which included a Game 4 win over the Celtics at the Boston Garden, 95–92 to win the series in four games; Game 4 would be the final basketball game ever played at the Boston Garden.^[26][27][28] Coincidentally, O'Neal would play his final game in Boston sixteen years later with the 2010–11 Boston Celtics, before retiring from the NBA at the age of 39.^[10]

In the Eastern Conference Semi-finals, the Magic faced off against the 5th–seeded Chicago Bulls, who were led by All-Star guard Michael Jordan, All-Star forward Scottie Pippen, and second-year star Toni Kukoč. The Bulls were on an emotional high as Jordan had just come out of his retirement, and returned from his baseball career to play basketball; Jordan was now wearing number 45 for the Bulls, as his number 23 jersey was retired.^[29][30][31]

The Magic won Game 1 over the Bulls at the Orlando Arena, 94–91, which featured Anderson stealing the ball from Jordan during the fourth quarter.^[32][33] Tensions rose when Anderson indicated that Jordan was no longer the same player; Anderson was quoted by the media saying, "No. 45 doesn't explode like No. 23 used to. No. 23, he could just blow by you. He took off like a space shuttle. No. 45, he revs up, but he really doesn't take off." The comment motivated Jordan to return to number 23, as the Bulls evened the series with a 104–94 road win in Game 2.^[34][35][36] With the series tied at 2–2, the Magic won Game 5 at the Orlando Arena, 103–95,^[37][38] and then won Game 6 over the Bulls on the road, 108–102 at the United Center to win the series in six games, and advance to their first Conference Finals appearance.^[39][40][41]

In the Eastern Conference Finals, the Magic then faced off against the 2nd–seeded, and Central Division champion Indiana Pacers, who were led by All-Star guard Reggie Miller, Rik Smits and Mark Jackson. The Magic took a 3–2 series lead before losing Game 6 to the Pacers on the road, 123–96 at the Market Square Arena. With the series tied at 3–3, the Magic won Game 7 over the Pacers at the Orlando Arena, 105–81 to win in a hard-fought seven-game series; the home team won every game in this series. The Magic then advanced to the NBA Finals for the first time in franchise history.^[42][43][44]

In the 1995 NBA Finals, the Magic faced off against the 6th–seeded, and defending NBA champion Houston Rockets, a team that featured All-Star center Hakeem Olajuwon, All-Star guard Clyde Drexler, and Robert Horry; O'Neal would be up against Olajuwon in a battle of All-Star centers. In Game 1 at the Orlando Arena, Anderson missed four consecutive free throws with the Magic up by three points at the waning seconds of the game, and the Rockets tied the game at the buzzer; the Rockets went on to win the game in overtime, 120–118.^[45][46][47] The Magic were unable to recover from their Game 1 loss, as the team lost Game 2 to the Rockets at home, 117–106, and then lost the next two games on the road, including a Game 4 loss to the Rockets at The Summit, 113–101. The Magic lost the series in a four-game sweep, as the Rockets won their second consecutive NBA championship.^[48][49][50]

The Magic finished 15th in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 656,410 at the Orlando Arena during the regular season.^[11][51] Following the season, Avent was traded to the Vancouver Grizzlies expansion team,^[52][53] and Tree Rollins retired. For the season, the Magic added new blue pinstripe road uniforms, while the black pinstripe jerseys became their alternate; both uniforms would remain in use until 1998.^[54]

The Magic would not reach the NBA Finals again until 2009.