Orlando Magic

20 years later: Reliving the Magic punching ticket to first NBA Finals

Published Jun. 4, 2015 11:00 a.m. ET

foxsports

The last time LeBron James reached an Eastern Conference finals but failed to advance beyond that, it was the Orlando Magic who prevented him from doing so.

With James and the Cleveland Cavaliers taking on the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals beginning Thursday night, it's tempting for Magic fans to ponder the historical significance of what took place in 2009. But that might pale in comparison to the events of exactly 20 years ago.

On the night of June 4, 1995, the Magic -- in only their sixth year of existence -- trounced the Indiana Pacers 105-81 in Game 7 of the conference finals to become the second-fastest franchise to ever reach the Finals. The Milwaukee Bucks got there in 1971 after being added as an expansion team three years earlier and landing the first pick in the 1969 draft in Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Like the Bucks, the Magic's rapid ascent was due in large part to the arrival of a dominant young center: Shaquille O'Neal. The Magic improved from 21 to 41 victories in Shaq's rookie season but missed the playoffs, and their first trip to the postseason in 1994 was one to forget, as the Pacers swept them in three games.

Considering the Magic's three previous wins in their rematch series against the Pacers came by a total of 11 points, the lopsided margin of victory came as a bit of a shock.

"The whole team was on a different level," said Horace Grant, who had gotten to the Finals three times previously with Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls. "I saw it in the guys' eyes before the game."

After being drubbed 123-96 two nights earlier at Indiana, the Magic took a 52-45 halftime lead. A 10-0 run in the third quarter that included 3-pointers by Dennis Scott and Nick Anderson turned up the din inside the Orlando Arena even more, and the Pacers got no closer than 14 points in the fourth quarter.

O'Neal finished with 25 points and 11 rebounds, and Grant added 16 points and nine rebounds. Their teammates combined to go 13 of 27 from 3-point range, compared with 4 of 19 for the Pacers.

"We embarrassed ourselves in Game 6 with our play," Magic coach Brian Hill said afterward. "And you could see right from the end of that basketball game the team started preparing for Game 7 before we had left the floor."

Scott, who connected on five of his seven 3-pointers in a team-high 44 minutes, went into the game irked over the way some of the Pacers had celebrated during their 27-point rout. Mark Jackson bothered him in particular with a shoulder-shrugging strut.

"In Games 1 and 2, you couldn't find him doing anything other than those long faces," Scott said at the time of Jackson, who will be working the Cavaliers-Warriors Finals as a color analyst for ABC. "That's the type of people they are."

O'Neal promised no such histrionics if the Magic defeated the Pacers "because we are a classy, elegant organization." The only thing wildly out of the ordinary to follow the win was the sight of backup forward Jeff Turner, now a FOX Sports Florida Magic analyst, being part of an on-court group slam dance.

Pacers coach Larry Brown gave all the credit to the Magic after a game in which Reggie Miller was held to 12 points, a third of his Game 6 output.

"We weren't unprepared," Brown said. "They were just sensational. I don't know when I've seen a team player a better game in a more important game than this one."

Added Miller: "They always had someone on me. I didn't get a lot of easy looks like I did in Game 6."

The Magic earned the right to face the Pacers by defeating Jordan and the Bulls in six games in the conference semifinals. That was the only playoff series after 1990 in which Jordan was part of a team which got eliminated.

In the 20 years since, the Magic have yet to play another Game 7 at home. Their only two such games have both been on the road: a loss at Detroit in the first round in 2003, and a win at Boston in the 2009 conference semifinals.

"We had a young, fabulous team. We really did," O'Neal said when the Magic inducted him into their Hall of Fame in March. "It was a shame that it got torn apart."

You can follow Ken Hornack on Twitter @HornackFSFla or email him at khornack32176@gmail.com.