1995–96 Orlando Magic season

1995–96 Orlando Magic season
Division Champions
Head coach Brian Hill
Arena Orlando Arena
Results
Record 60–22 (.732)
Place Division: 1st (Atlantic)
Conference: 2nd (Eastern)
Playoff finish East Conference Finals
(eliminated 0–4)

Stats @ Basketball-Reference.com

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

The 1995–96 season is the seventh season of the Orlando Magic in the National Basketball Association (NBA).[1] The Magic clinched the Atlantic Division title with a 60–22 record. A regular season record which still stands as the best in franchise history. This despite missing Shaquille O'Neal for the first 22 games of the season due to a thumb injury. Anfernee Hardaway stepped up in O'Neal's absence and was awarded Player of the Month for November. The season saw Dennis Scott take a place in the league history books by scoring 267 three-point field goals, a single season record.

Despite the franchise best record, the Magic were beaten to top seed in the East by the dominant Chicago Bulls who finished with an NBA All-time best record of 72–10. In the playoffs the Magic swept the Detroit Pistons in 3–0 in the opening round. The second round saw the Magic meet the Atlanta Hawks, a match-up they would win 4–1.

The Eastern Conference Finals matched up the Magic with the Chicago Bulls, the team they had eliminated in the previous year's play-offs. This year though, the Bulls would be too strong sweeping the Magic 4–0. Thereby, the Magic became the first team by eliminated from the playoffs in a sweep for three consecutive seasons since the 1950 Chicago Stags.

Following the season, the All-Star center O'Neal left the team, signing as a free agent for the Los Angeles Lakers.[2]

Draft picks

Main article: 1995 NBA Draft
Round Pick Player Position Nationality School/Club Team
1 25 David Vaughn PF  United States Memphis

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 24 United States Bonner, Anthony 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Saint Louis
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
PG 1 United States Hardaway, Anfernee 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Memphis
C 45 United States Koncak, John 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 235 lb (107 kg) Southern Methodist
C 32 United States O'Neal, Shaquille 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) 325 lb (147 kg) LSU
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 42 United States Vaughn, David 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 240 lb (109 kg) Memphis
C 12 United States Wolf, Joe 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 230 lb (104 kg) North Carolina
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured

Roster

Regular season

Season standings

Atlantic Division W L PCT GB Home Road Div
y-Orlando Magic 60 22 .732 – 37–4 23–18 21–3
x-New York Knicks 47 35 .573 13 26–15 21–20 16–8
x-Miami Heat 42 40 .512 18 26–15 16–25 13–12
Washington Bullets 39 43 .476 21 25–16 14–27 10–14
Boston Celtics 33 49 .402 27 18–23 15–26 12–12
New Jersey Nets 30 52 .366 30 20–21 10–31 8–17
Philadelphia 76ers 18 64 .220 42 11–30 7–34 5–19
Eastern Conference
# Team W L PCT GB
1 z-Chicago Bulls 72 10 .878 –
2 y-Orlando Magic 60 22 .732 12
3 x-Indiana Pacers 52 30 .634 20
4 x-Cleveland Cavaliers 47 35 .573 25
5 x-New York Knicks 47 35 .573 25
6 x-Atlanta Hawks 46 36 .561 26
7 x-Detroit Pistons 46 36 .561 26
8 x-Miami Heat 42 40 .512 30
9 Charlotte Hornets 41 41 .500 31
10 Washington Bullets 39 43 .476 33
11 Boston Celtics 33 49 .402 39
12 New Jersey Nets 30 52 .366 42
13 Milwaukee Bucks 25 57 .305 47
14 Toronto Raptors 21 61 .256 51
15 Philadelphia 76ers 18 64 .220 54

Player stats

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

Player GP GS MP REB AST STL BLK PTS AVG
Penny Hardaway 82 82 3015 354 582 166 41 1780 21.7
Shaquille O'Neal 54 52 1946 596 155 34 115 1434 26.6
Dennis Scott 82 82 3041 309 243 90 29 1431 17.5
Nick Anderson 77 77 2717 415 279 121 46 1134 14.7
Horace Grant 63 62 2286 580 170 62 74 847 13.4
Brian Shaw 75 1 1679 224 336 58 11 496 6.6
Donald Royal 64 7 963 153 42 29 15 337 5.3
Anthony Bowie 74 4 1078 123 105 34 10 308 4.2
Joe Wolf 63 8 1047 185 63 13 5 291 4.6
Jon Koncak 67 35 1288 272 51 27 44 203 3.0
Brooks Thompson 33 0 246 24 31 12 0 140 4.2
David Vaughn 33 0 266 80 8 6 15 64 1.9
Jeff Turner 13 0 192 28 6 2 1 47 3.6
Darrell Armstrong 13 0 41 2 5 6 0 42 3.2
Anthony Bonner 4 0 43 19 4 3 0 13 3.3
Geert Hammink 3 0 7 3 0 0 0 4 1.3

Playoffs

The Magic opened up their playoffs campaign on April 26 against the Detroit Pistons, a game they won convincingly 112-92 at home in the Orlando Arena. The Magic would also win game 2 at home before clinching the series, and a sweep, of the Pistons in game 3 away from home at the Palace of Auburn Hills.

The second round put the Magic against the Atlanta Hawks. The Magic opened the series with two convincing wins at home, both with scoring margins greater than 20 points. The Magic carried this momentum into game 3 away from home, winning a closer fought match 102-96. The Atlanta Hawks won game 4, avoiding the sweep, but the Magic were too strong and won game 5 at home to clinch the series 4-1.

The Eastern Conference finals saw the Magic face the Chicago Bulls and Michael Jordan, a team they had eliminated in the previous years playoffs. The dominant Chicago Bulls would prove to be too strong for the Orlando Magic this year, sweeping the series 4-0 and denying the Magic consecutive trips to the NBA finals.

East First Round

(2) Orlando Magic vs. (7) Detroit Pistons

Game Date Visitor Score Home Score Record

(ORL-DET)

 Venue Recap Television
1 April 26 Detroit 92 Orlando 112 1-0 Orlando Arena, Orlando, Florida 1
2 April 28 Detroit 77 Orlando 92 2-0 Orlando Arena, Orlando, Florida 2
3 April 30 Orlando 101 Detroit 98 3-0 Palace of Auburn Hills, Auburn Hills, Michigan 3 TBS
Orlando wins series 3–0

East Conference Semifinals

(2) Orlando Magic vs. (6) Atlanta Hawks

Game Date Visitor Score Home Score Record

(ORL-ATL)

 Venue Recap Television
1 May 8 Atlanta 95 Orlando 117 1-0 Orlando Arena, Orlando, Florida 1 TBS
2 May 10 Atlanta 94 Orlando 120 2-0 Orlando Arena, Orlando, Florida 2
3 May 12 Orlando 102 Atlanta 96 3-0 Omni Coliseum, Atlanta, Georgia 3 NBC
4 May 13 Orlando 99 Atlanta 104 3-1 Omni Coliseum, Atlanta, Georgia 4
5 May 15 Atlanta 88 Orlando 96 4-1 Orlando Arena, Orlando, Florida 5 TBS
Orlando wins series 4–1

East Conference Finals

(1) Chicago Bulls vs. (2) Orlando Magic

Game Date Visitor Score Home Score Record

(CHI-ORL)

 Venue Recap Television
1 May 19 Orlando 83 Chicago 121 1-0 United Center, Chicago, Illinois 1 NBC
2 May 21 Orlando 88 Chicago 93 2-0 United Center, Chicago, Illinois 2 TNT
3 May 25 Chicago 86 Orlando 67 3-0 Orlando Arena, Orlando, Florida 3 NBC
4 May 27 Chicago 106 Orlando 101 4-0 Orlando Arena, Orlando, Florida 4 NBC
Chicago wins series 4-0

Player Stats

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

Player GP MP REB AST STL BLK PTS AVG
Penny Hardaway 12 473 56 72 20 4 280 23.3
Shaquille O'Neal 12 459 120 55 9 15 310 25.8
Dennis Scott 12 446 43 23 9 1 136 11.3
Nick Anderson 11 418 55 21 21 5 156 14.2
Horace Grant 9 334 94 13 7 6 135 15
Brian Shaw 10 217 21 46 5 0 47 4.7
Donald Royal 7 92 11 1 0 1 25 3.6
Anthony Bowie 12 152 17 14 3 2 30 2.5
Joe Wolf 11 85 6 2 1 0 20 1.8
Jon Koncak 12 140 23 3 5 4 11 0.9
Brooks Thompson 5 48 5 7 0 1 26 5.2
Anthony Bonner 4 16 2 1 0 0 3 0.8

Awards and honors

League records

During the 1995–96 season, Dennis Scott set the record for most three-point field goals scored in a regular season with 267.

All Stars

The following players were selected to play in the East v West All-Star game

References

  1. ↑ 1995-96 Orlando Magic
  2. ↑ Moran, Malcolm (July 19, 1996). "Lakers Get O'Neal In 7-Year Contract". New York Times.
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