1994–95 Orlando Magic season

1994–95 Orlando Magic season
Atlantic Division Champions Eastern Conference 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. 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. 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.

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. 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.

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. The Magic would not recover from their Game 1 loss as the Rockets swept the series in 4 straight.

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 Anderson, Nick 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Illinois PG 10 Armstrong, Darrell 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Fayetteville State PF 00 Avent, Anthony 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 235 lb (107 kg) Seton Hall SG 14 Bowie, Anthony 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Oklahoma PF 54 Grant, Horace 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Clemson C 43 Hammink, Geert 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 262 lb (119 kg) LSU PG 1 Hardaway, Penny 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Memphis C 32 O'Neal, Shaquille 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) 325 lb (147 kg) LSU C 30 Rollins, Tree 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) 235 lb (107 kg) Clemson SF 5 Royal, Donald 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Notre Dame SF 3 Scott, Dennis 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 229 lb (104 kg) Georgia Tech PG 20 Shaw, Brian 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 190 lb (86 kg) UC Santa Barbara PG 22 Thompson, Brooks 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 193 lb (88 kg) Oklahoma State PF 31 Turner, Jeff 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Vanderbilt	Head coach Brian Hill (JFK College) Assistant coach(es) Richie Adubato (William Paterson) Tree Rollins (Clemson) Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured Roster

Roster Notes

• Tree Rollins was a player/coach during the season.

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

Playoffs

East First Round

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

• Game 1 @ Orlando Arena, Orlando (April 28): Orlando 124, Boston 77
• Game 2 @ Orlando Arena, Orlando (April 30): Boston 99, Orlando 92
• Game 3 @ Boston Garden, Boston (May 3): Orlando 82, Boston 77
• Game 4 @ Boston Garden, Boston (May 5): Orlando 95, Boston 92

Last Playoff Meeting: Not available (first playoff series)

East Conference Semifinals

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

• Game 1 @ Orlando Arena, Orlando (May 7): Orlando 94, Chicago 91
• Game 2 @ Orlando Arena, Orlando (May 10): Chicago 104, Orlando 94
• Game 3 @ United Center, Chicago (May 12): Orlando 110, Chicago 101
• Game 4 @ United Center, Chicago (May 14): Chicago 106, Orlando 95
• Game 5 @ Orlando Arena, Orlando (May 16): Orlando 103, Chicago 95
• Game 6 @ United Center, Chicago (May 18): Orlando 108, Chicago 102

Last Playoff Meeting: Not available (first playoff series)

East Conference Finals

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

• Game 1 @ Orlando Arena, Orlando (May 23): Orlando 105, Indiana 101
• Game 2 @ Orlando Arena, Orlando (May 25): Orlando 119, Indiana 114
• Game 3 @ Market Square Arena, Indianapolis (May 27): Indiana 105, Orlando 100
• Game 4 @ Market Square Arena, Indianapolis (May 29): Indiana 94, Orlando 93
• Game 5 @ Orlando Arena, Orlando (May 31): Orlando 108, Indiana 106
• Game 6 @ Market Square Arena, Indianapolis (June 2): Indiana 123, Orlando 96
• Game 7 @ Orlando Arena, Orlando (June 4): Orlando 105, Indiana 81

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:

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

• Shaquille O’Neal, NBA Scoring Champion (2315 pts)
• Shaquille O’Neal, NBA Leader Points per Game (29.3)

References

• Orlando Magic on Database Basketball
• Orlando Magic on Basketball Reference