Their First Dance: 95 Playoffs Magic vs Bulls Game 1

The Orlando Magic had a young and promising core in 1995, and coming up against the Chicago Bulls and Michael Jordan there were sure to be fireworks.

The Chicago Bulls are having their moment right now with “The Last Dance“, ESPN’s Michael Jordan documentary, and so they should. The greatest player of all-time in Michael Jordan, vanquishing all who challenged him in the 1990s. Except for one. In 1995 the upstart Orlando Magic had a fantastic young core and looked set to close out the rest of the decade as a contender.

Which is why we’re dubbing this series “Their First Dance”. The Magic were on the come-up and would go on to the NBA Finals in the 1995 playoffs where they would lose to the Houston Rockets in disappointing fashion. But that was only supposed to be the start for them. We’re getting ahead of ourselves though.

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So in honor of the Magic’s 1995 series against the Bulls, as well as not having much else to celebrate throughout their history, we are going to rewatch all six games from that series and break them down. Jordan might get to control the narrative with the documentary we’re all watching at the moment, but for this brief period, he didn’t. Settle in.

The main takeaway from Game 1, a 94-91 win for the Magic, has and always will be Nick Anderson stealing the ball from Jordan to snatch the win back from the Bulls. There was so much more than that going on though, and we’re going to start in the most unexpected of places in the first quarter: Donald Royal.

In what may be the only piece to ever give some time to the guy (he averaged 2.1 points in 11 minutes through the 1995 playoffs), Royal set the tone early in this one and actually started the game on the way to playing 22 minutes (he chipped in with his expected two points as well). In that first quarter, he was busy and active, appearing to roll his ankle going for an offensive rebound near the end of the first period as well.

Royal did nothing else of note in the game, but it was important to have role players as invested as he was to begin this series. Even more so because Anfernee Hardaway had what we could generously describe as a passive game. Bar some plays in the fourth, which largely contributed to the 16 points her scored in this one, he was very much in the background.

Hardaway was so smooth going up and down the court, and some of his passing was really impressive. But to advance from this series they would need more from him. Franchise centerpiece Shaquille O’Neal however, did everything required of him to win. Just as well, as they nearly wasted a game in which he shot a superb 12-of-16 from the free-throw line.

Had O’Neal only knocked down roughly half of these shots, as he did throughout that regular season, the Orlando Magic would have lost the game. His importance was highlighted to end the second quarter as well when he went to the bench with 2:31 left in the game. The Magic went small for a stretch, with the Bulls outscoring them 7-0 to claw them back early.

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That is something else the Magic would have to be wary of as the series progresses. The Bulls had a bad game, with Jordan and his number 45 jersey looking out of sorts. Forget being rusty though, he had put up 48 points in the first game of their first-round win over the Charlotte Hornets, and led all players in scoring in three out of the four games played between the two.

No, this was more likely to be a result of bone bruising in his right hand. Marv Albert told viewers after halftime that Jordan had shot six of his 13 shots with his left hand, and had only made three of them. The Bulls weren’t in a great place, although Bill Wennington, Toni Kukoc and Steve Kerr did their best, and yet the Magic only barely beat them. This despite playing some stifling defense too (even if they were called for illegal defense four times throughout the contest).

The Orlando Magic had gone 39-2 throughout the regular season at home, at that point the second-best mark of all-time. Yet a nonchalant Bulls outfit nearly strolled in and took Game 1. Even with both Pippen and B.J. Armstrong going mad at head coach Phil Jackson for different reasons throughout the game (also worth mentioning, Armstrong hasn’t aged a day between then and The Last Dance).

What will give them comfort, however, is knowing they have the kind of talent right the way through the roster that can match up with the Bulls. Over the course of this game, you would be hard-pressed to pick which player would translate better to today’s NBA: Dennis Scott or Anderson.

In the end, Scott gets the nod, and although it might have been the low-quality footage of the game, he was out there looking like a version of Khris Middleton in the win. Big, good with the ball in his hands, a threat from outside with his shooting and movement off the ball, and that was despite only going 1-of-6 from deep. His skillset would make him so valuable in today’s league.

Anderson did have the better game on this occasion though, stripping Jordan at the crucial moment, popping up on both ends with some plays and shooting 50 percent from 3-point range (3-of-6). One-time Bull Horace Grant makes up this fearsome trio, his defending the basis for which so much was built around.

So it is on to Game 2, where the Orlando Magic will be hoping to play even better. The chance to go 2-0 is there, putting Jordan, Pippen and the Bulls in real trouble. O’Neal won’t hit that many free-throws again, so Hardaway will have to step up. The supporting cast, however, is looking great right now.