1994–95 Orlando Magic season

1994–95 Orlando Magic season
Conference Champions
Division Champions
Head coach Brian Hill
Arena Orlando Arena
Results
Record 57–25 (.695)
Place Division: 1st (Atlantic)
Conference: 1st (Eastern)
Playoff finish NBA Finals
(Lost 0–4)

Stats @ Basketball-Reference.com

Local media
Television SportsChannel Florida, Sunshine Network, WKCF
Radio WDBO

The 1994–95 season was Orlando's sixth in the NBA.[1] After building through the draft in previous years, the Magic made themselves even stronger by signing free agent Horace Grant. Grant gave the Magic one of the most dominant starting lineups in the NBA. Shaquille O'Neal continued to dominate the NBA with 29.3 points per game. The Magic easily won the Atlantic Division with a 57-25 record.[2] They also finished with a 39-2 home record, tied for second best in NBA history. Anfernee Hardaway was selected to play in the 1995 NBA All-Star Game along with O'Neal.

In the playoffs the Magic overwhelmed the Boston Celtics with a 124–77 victory in Game 1. The Magic would eliminate the Celtics in the Boston Garden. These matches would be the final 2 basketball games ever played at the Garden.[2]

In the second round, the Magic were matched up against the Chicago Bulls. The Bulls were on an emotional high as Michael Jordan had just returned from baseball career to play basketball. Jordan was now wearing the number 45 for the Bulls. The Magic won the first game 94–91. Tensions rose when Nick Anderson indicated that Jordan was no longer the same player when Anderson was quoted by the media saying, "Number 23, he could just blow right by you! Number 45, he revs up, but doesn't really take off." The comment motivated Jordan to return to number 23 and the Bulls evened the series.[2] In Game 5, the Magic won the game 103–95. The Magic would eliminate the Bulls in Game 6 as the Magic won 108–102 to advance to the Conference Finals.

In the Eastern Conference Finals, the Magic would beat the Indiana Pacers in a tough 7-game series that saw the home team win every game.[2]

The Magic were off to their first ever NBA Finals. The Magic faced off against the defending NBA Champion Houston Rockets. Shaq would be up against Hakeem Olajuwon in a battle of All-Star Centers. Game 1 was played in Orlando and the game was lost at the free throw line. Anderson missed four consecutive free throws with the Magic up by three at waning seconds of the game and the Rockets tied the game at the buzzer. The Rockets would then win Game 1 in overtime.[2] The Magic would not recover from their Game 1 loss as the Rockets swept the series in 4 straight.

For the season, the Magic had new blue pinstripe road uniforms, while the black pinstripe jerseys became their alternate. Both uniforms lasted until 1998.

NBA Draft

Main article: 1994 NBA Draft
Round Pick Player Position Nationality School/Club Team
1 27 Brooks Thompson SG  United States Oklahoma State
2 31 Rodney Dent PF/C  United States Kentucky

Roster

Orlando Magic roster
Players Coaches
Pos. No. Name Height Weight DOB (YYYY–MM–DD) From
SG 25 United States Anderson, Nick 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Illinois
PG 10 United States Armstrong, Darrell 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Fayetteville State
PF 00 United States Avent, Anthony 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 235 lb (107 kg) Seton Hall
SG 14 United States Bowie, Anthony 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Oklahoma
PF 54 United States Grant, Horace 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Clemson
C 43 Netherlands Hammink, Geert 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 262 lb (119 kg) LSU
PG 1 United States Hardaway, Anfernee 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Memphis
C 32 United States O'Neal, Shaquille 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) 325 lb (147 kg) LSU
C 30 United States Rollins, Tree 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) 235 lb (107 kg) Clemson
SF 5 United States Royal, Donald 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Notre Dame
SF 3 United States Scott, Dennis 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 229 lb (104 kg) Georgia Tech
PG 20 United States Shaw, Brian 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 190 lb (86 kg) UC Santa Barbara
PG 22 United States Thompson, Brooks 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 193 lb (88 kg) Oklahoma State
PF 31 United States Turner, Jeff 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Vanderbilt
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured

Roster

Roster Notes

Depth chart

Pos. Starter Bench Reserve Inactive
C Shaquille O'Neal Tree Rollins
PF Horace Grant Jeff Turner Anthony Avent
SF Donald Royal Dennis Scott
SG Nick Anderson Anthony Bowie Brooks Thompson
PG Penny Hardaway Brian Shaw Darrell Armstrong

Regular season

Season standings

Atlantic Division W L PCT GB Home Road Div
y-Orlando Magic 57 25 .695 — 39-2 18-23 18-10
x-New York Knicks 55 27 .671 2 29-12 26-15 23-5
x-Boston Celtics 35 47 .427 22 20-21 15-26 14-14
Miami Heat 32 50 .390 25 22-19 10-31 9-19
New Jersey Nets 30 52 .366 27 20-21 10-31 13-15
Philadelphia 76ers 24 58 .293 33 14-27 10-31 12-16
Washington Bullets 21 61 .256 36 13-28 8-33 9-19

[3]

Playoffs

East First Round

(1) Orlando Magic vs. (8) Boston Celtics: Magic win series 3-1

Last Playoff Meeting: Not available (first playoff series)

East Conference Semifinals

(1) Orlando Magic vs. (5) Chicago Bulls: Magic win series 4-2

Last Playoff Meeting: Not available (first playoff series)

East Conference Finals

(1) Orlando Magic vs. (2) Indiana Pacers: Magic win series 4-3

Last Playoff Meeting: 1994 Eastern Conference First Round (Indiana won 3-0)

NBA finals

Olajuwon vs. O'Neal

Although both centers played well, Olajuwon is generally considered to have outplayed O'Neal. Olajuwon outscored O'Neal in every game of the series and became one of the few players in NBA history to score at least 30 points in every game of an NBA Finals series:[4][5]

1995 NBA Finals Gm 1 Gm 2 Gm 3 Gm 4 Totals
Hakeem Olajuwon 31 34 31 35 32.8 ppg
Shaquille O'Neal 26 33 28 25 28.0 ppg

Series Summary

Game Date Home Team Result Road Team
Game 1 June 7 Orlando 118-120 Houston
Game 2 June 9 Orlando 106-117 Houston
Game 3 June 11 Houston 106-103 Orlando
Game 4 June 14 Houston 113-101 Orlando

Rockets win series 4-0

Player stats

Note: GP= Games played; REB= Rebounds; AST= Assists; STL = Steals; BLK = Blocks; PTS = Points; AVG = Average

Season

Player GP REB AST STL BLK PTS AVG
Nick Anderson 76 335 314 125 22 1200 15.8
Penny Hardaway 77 336 551 130 26 1613 20.9
Shaquille O'Neal 79 901 214 73 192 2315 29.3

Awards and honors

References

  1. ↑ 1994-95 Orlando Magic
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Orlando Magic (1989-Present)
  3. ↑ 1994-95 NBA Season Summary - Basketball-Reference.com
  4. ↑ History of the NBA Finals: Hakeem Olajuwon: The NBA’s Best In The Mid ’90s, hollywoodsportsbook.com, accessed February 16, 2007.
  5. ↑ NBA Finals Records, Basketball.com, accessed February 16, 2007.
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