On This Day: Magic Advance To First NBA Finals
Perhaps the greatest moment in Orlando Magic history was Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals where the team advanced to its first NBA Finals as a franchise.
It took just six years for the Magic to go from expansion franchise to NBA finalist, but the team formed within the six years was special.
The team was a good mix of drafted players and veterans. Nick Anderson, Dennis Scott, Shaquille O'Neal and Penny Hardaway helped build the foundation while veterans Horace Grant, Anthony Bowie and Jeff Turner helped turn the team from pretenders to contenders.
The Magic faced off against Reggie Miller and the Indiana Pacers, where the home team won each of the first six games in the series. And in Game 7, that pattern continued.
The Magic had a small lead early, but as the game progressed, the lead grew, ultimately ending in a 24-point blowout to send Orlando to its first NBA Finals. Shaq led all scorers with 25 points and 11 rebounds, and each member of the starting lineup scored in double figures.
The Magic would ultimately lose to the Houston Rockets in four games in the Finals, but the 1995 team helped put Orlando on the basketball map. The core of the 1990s teams never got further than it did in 1995 and was practically broken up after Shaq left for the Los Angeles Lakers after the 1995-96 season.
The 1994-95 Magic is still celebrated in Central Florida to this day as one of the most beloved teams in franchise history 27 years later.
