1995–96 Orlando Magic season

The 1995–96 Orlando Magic season was the seventh season for the Orlando Magic in the National Basketball Association. The Magic were coming off their trip to the 1995 NBA Finals, where they were swept by the 6th–seeded Houston Rockets in four games.

Season summary

Off-season During the off-season, the team signed free agent Jon Koncak, and signed Joe Wolf during the first month of the regular season; Wolf was previously released by the Charlotte Hornets.

Regular season The Magic started the regular season without Shaquille O'Neal, who missed the first 22 games due to a preseason thumb injury. Penny Hardaway stepped up in O'Neal's absence, and was named the Player of the Month for November, as the team got off to a 13–2 start to the season. The Magic posted a seven-game winning streak between December and January, and later on held a 34–14 record at the All-Star break. At mid-season, the team traded Jeff Turner to the expansion Vancouver Grizzlies in exchange for Kenny Gattison; however, Gattison never played for the Magic, due to arm and neck injuries he sustained with the Grizzlies, and was out for the remainder of the season. The Magic posted another seven-game winning streak between February and March, and won their second consecutive Atlantic Division title with a franchise-best 60–22 record, earning the second seed in the Eastern Conference.

O'Neal averaged 26.6 points, 11.0 rebounds and 2.1 blocks per game in 54 games, and was named to the All-NBA Third Team, while Hardaway averaged 21.7 points, 7.1 assists and 2.0 steals per game, and was named to the All-NBA First Team, and three-point specialist Dennis Scott contributed 17.5 points per game, and led the league with 267 three-point field goals, a single-season record since broken by Stephen Curry. In addition, Nick Anderson provided the team with 14.7 points, 5.4 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.6 steals per game, and contributed 168 three-point field goals, while Horace Grant provided with 13.4 points and 9.2 rebounds per game, and was named to the NBA All-Defensive Second Team. Off the bench, Brian Shaw contributed 6.6 points and 4.5 assists per game, while Donald Royal provided with 5.3 points per game, Wolf averaged 4.6 points and 2.9 rebounds per game, Anthony Bowie contributed 4.2 points per game, and Koncak provided with 3.0 points and 4.1 rebounds per game.

During the NBA All-Star weekend at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas, O'Neal and Hardaway were both selected for the 1996 NBA All-Star Game, as members of the Eastern Conference All-Star team. O'Neal led the East with 25 points, 10 rebounds and 2 blocks as they defeated the Western Conference, 129–118; however, despite having the best performance, Michael Jordan, who scored 20 points in 22 minutes, was named the NBA All-Star Game Most Valuable Player, which drew controversy and boos from the fans at the Alamodome. Meanwhile, Scott participated in the NBA Three-Point Shootout for the second time, and second-year guard Darrell Armstrong participated in the NBA Slam Dunk Contest. Hardaway also finished in third place in Most Valuable Player voting, behind Jordan of the Chicago Bulls, and David Robinson of the San Antonio Spurs, while O'Neal finished tied in ninth place; Grant finished tied in eighth place in Defensive Player of the Year voting, and Scott finished tied in eighth place in Most Improved Player voting.

The Magic finished 13th in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 707,168 at the Orlando Arena during the regular season.

NBA playoffs In the Eastern Conference First Round of the 1996 NBA playoffs, the Magic faced off against the 7th–seeded Detroit Pistons, a team that featured All-Star forward Grant Hill, Allan Houston and Otis Thorpe. The Magic won the first two games over the Pistons at home at the Orlando Arena, before winning Game 3 on the road, 101–98 at The Palace of Auburn Hills, thus winning the series in a three-game sweep.

In the Eastern Conference Semi-finals, the team faced off against the 6th–seeded Atlanta Hawks, a team that featured Steve Smith, Mookie Blaylock and Grant Long. The Magic won the first three games to take a 3–0 series lead, but then lost Game 4 to the Hawks on the road, 104–99 at the Omni Coliseum. The Magic won Game 5 over the Hawks at the Orlando Arena, 96–88 to win the series in five games.

In the Eastern Conference Finals, and for the second consecutive year, the Magic faced off against the top–seeded, and Central Division champion Bulls, who were led by the trio of Jordan, All-Star forward Scottie Pippen, and rebound-specialist Dennis Rodman, and also finished with a then all-time best record of 72–10; the Magic had eliminated the Bulls in the Eastern Conference Semi-finals in the previous year's playoffs. However, Grant suffered an elbow injury in Game 1, in which the Magic lost to the Bulls on the road, 121–83 at the United Center, as he was out for the remainder of the series. The Magic suffered another painful blow when Anderson suffered a wrist injury in Game 3, in which the team lost at the Orlando Arena, 86–67, as he was also out for the rest of the series. Without Grant and Anderson, the Magic lost Game 4 to the Bulls at home, 106–101, thus losing the series in a four-game sweep. Thereby, the Magic became the first team to be eliminated from the NBA playoffs in a sweep for three consecutive seasons since the 1950 Chicago Stags.

The Bulls would defeat the Seattle SuperSonics in six games in the 1996 NBA Finals, winning their fourth NBA championship in six years.

Notable highlights and incidents Two notable highlights for the Magic occurred during the regular season. On April 18, 1996, during a home game against the Hawks at the Orlando Arena, Scott set a then-record of 11 three-point field goals in a single game, scoring 35 points and making 11 out of 17 three-point field-goal attempts, as the Magic defeated the Hawks by a score of 119–104. On February 16, in a home game against the Milwaukee Bucks, O'Neal hit his only career three-pointer at the buzzer to end the first quarter; the Magic defeated the Bucks by a score of 121–91.

One notable incident of the season occurred on March 19, 1996, during a home game against the Pistons at the Orlando Arena. With the Magic up by 20 points, Bowie called a timeout with 2.7 seconds left to set up a play, so he could get his first career triple-double. Pistons head coach Doug Collins got upset and viewed this as poor sportsmanship, as he instructed his players off the court to not defend the final play, and then towards the locker room before the game had ended; Collins was fined $5,000 by the league. Bowie posted his first ever career triple-double of 20 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, as the Magic defeated the Pistons by a score of 113–91.

Aftermath Following the season, O'Neal signed as a free agent with the Los Angeles Lakers after four seasons with the Magic, while Wolf signed with the Milwaukee Bucks, and Gattison and Bowie were both released to free agency.

The Magic would not win another NBA playoff series again until the 2007–08 season.

Draft picks

Round Pick Player Position Nationality School/Club team 1 25 David Vaughn PF Memphis

Roster

Roster Notes Power forward Kenny Gattison was acquired by the Magic from the expansion Vancouver Grizzlies in a mid-season trade, but was placed on the injured reserve list due to arm, and neck injuries he sustained with the Grizzlies, and did not play for the Magic.

Regular season

Season standings

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 at the Omni, winning a closer fought match 102–96. The 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. With Horace Grant out with an elbow injury from Game 1, the dominant Chicago Bulls would prove to be too strong for the Orlando this year, sweeping the series 4-0 and denying the Magic consecutive trips to the NBA finals.

Player statistics

Regular season PlayerSF82 82 3,041 309 243 90 29 1,431 37.1 3.8 3.0 1.1 .4 17.5PG82 82 3,015 354 582 166 41 1,780 36.8 4.3 7.1 2.0 .5 21.7SG 77 77 2,717 415 279 121 46 1,134 35.3 5.4 3.6 1.6 .6 14.7PG 75 1 1,679 224 336 58 11 496 22.4 3.0 4.5 .8 .1 6.6SG 74 4 1,078 123 105 34 10 308 14.6 1.7 1.4 .5 .1 4.2PF 67 35 1,288 272 51 27 44 203 19.2 4.1 .8 .4 .7 3.0SF 64 7 963 153 42 29 15 337 15.0 2.4 .7 .5 .2 5.3PF 63 62 2,286 580 170 62 74 847 36.3 9.2 2.7 1.0 1.2 13.4†PF 63 8 1,047 185 63 13 5 291 16.6 2.9 1.0 .2 .1 4.6C 54 52 1,946 596 155 34 115 1,434 36.0 11.0 2.9 .6 2.1 26.6PF 33 0 266 80 8 6 15 64 8.1 2.4 .2 .2 .5 1.9PG 33 0 246 24 31 12 0 140 7.5 .7 .9 .4 .0 4.2PF 13 0 192 28 6 2 1 47 14.8 2.2 .5 .2 .1 3.6PG 13 0 41 2 5 6 0 42 3.2 .2 .4 .5 .0 3.2PF 4 0 43 19 4 3 0 13 10.8 4.8 1.0 .8 .0 3.3†C 3 0 7 3 0 0 0 4 2.3 1.0 .0 .0 .0 1.3

Playoffs

1995–96 Orlando Magic season

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