Michael Jordan vs 1995 Orlando Magic | His biggest black mark?

Michael Jordan vs 1995 Orlando Magic | His biggest black mark?

One of the reasons why Michael Jordan is considered the greatest player of all time is because his career resume is as flawless as we’ve ever seen. However, it’s not perfect. There were moments when he failed as a competitor. One of those moments was when he lost to the Orlando Magic in the 1995 semifinals. Some talking heads claim that defeat is as bad as any of the failures of LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, or any other NBA great. Is that factual? Did Michael Jordan underperform to his standards? And what was the real reason the Bulls lost that series? Let’s start by looking at the numbers. He averaged 31 points on 48% shooting, 6.5 rebounds, 3.7 assists, and 2.5 steals per game. His career regular-season average is 30.1 points per game on 50% shooting. This was your standard Michael Jordan performance. But what about the eye test? Did he look like the Michael Jordan who won three straight titles before his retirement? He might not have been like that space shuttle that Nick Anderson was referring to in his younger years, but he had some impressive performances. Take Game 2 when he had 38 points on 57% shooting, 7 rebounds, 4 steals, 4 blocks, and 3 assists. In the very next game, he goes for 40 points on 48% shooting, 7 rebounds, and 4 assists. Then in Game 5, he recorded 39 points on 54% shooting. He looked explosive in many stretches during these games. The numbers and the highlights say that he was great. But if we watch the actual games, we’ll notice that he had a hard time closing out games. In Game 1, he committed two costly turnovers on back-to-back possessions. Nick Anderson stole the ball from Michael, which led to a fast-break dunk from Horace Grant. In the next possession, he tried to pass the ball to Scottie Pippen, but he couldn’t control the pass. It was a late-game collapse that we weren’t used to seeing with Jordan in the playoffs. Then in Game 3, the Bulls were outscored 30-20 in the fourth quarter, and they lost the lead that they had going into the final period. Then in Game 6, with their season on the line, the Bulls also couldn’t keep their 8-point lead that they had with less than 3 and a half minutes left in the game. However, the Bulls had a chance to force overtime, but Michael committed another costly turnover. He drove into the lane, but as O’Neal popped out, Jordan passed the ball, and it was lost to the Magic. And that was the end of their season. This was so uncharacteristic of Michael. Two playoff games where he committed turnovers in the final moments. Since those plays are the ones that stick out the most, it’s easy to point the finger at him for their early playoff exit. However, that isn’t the real reason why they lost. There are other factors to consider. For example, let’s take a look at the way Scottie Pippen performed that series. He averaged 19 points on 41% shooting, 9.7 rebounds, and 5.7 assists per game. His play was inconsistent. Remember in Game 1 when Jordan made those two turnovers, well Scottie had 7 points on 2/11 shooting. Remember when we mentioned that Micheal scored 39 points in Game 5, well Pippen had 10 points on 31% shooting. It seemed like Jordan was trying to win these games by himself, and it was because he couldn’t rely on his co-star to help him when he needed it the most. Pippen just wasn’t playing up to par compared to his regular season averages. He needed to step up since the Bulls did not have a consistent third-scoring option that could produce enough offense to defeat this team. They lost their third star in the offseason when Horace Grant decided to sign with the Orlando Magic. He was an extremely underrated piece for the three titles they won, and they lost him for nothing. In the previous year, he was an all-star, and he was selected to the All-NBA 2nd team defense. From an analytical standpoint, this player had a strong case to be considered a top 15 player in the league in 1994. With him and Scottie Pippen clicking, they won 55 games. But in 1995, the Bulls were 34-31 before Jordan returned from retirement, and they finished with 47 wins for the season. They had lost their championship form. They also had a glaring weakness in their frontline. That was going to present a problem when facing the most dominant big man of all time, Shaquille O’Neal. In the regular season, they struggled against Orlando. They went 1-3 in their season series. But the Bulls had a plan to contain him. They decided to surround him with 2 to 3 defenders every time he touched the ball. They called it the “Hack Pack”. They had no choice but to do this, since players like Luc Longley, Will Perdue, and Bill Wennington were just BBQ chicken for him. Phil Jackson was going to force someone else to beat them. As far as limiting O’Neal’s scoring production, it worked. He averaged 24.3 points on 48% shooting for the series. Let’s not forget that he was the scoring champion in ’95. He averaged 29.3 points on 58% shooting in the regular season. But Shaq wasn’t just a scorer. He was a willing passer, who has proven throughout his career that he could pass off the double team. That led to 5 different Magic players that averaged nearly 15 points for the series. Horace Grant, Nick Anderson, and Dennis Scott all had big scoring games because their defenders were worried about double-teaming O’Neal. No one was bigger than Horace Grant. He was deemed by Shaq as the “world’s greatest role player" after the series. And Jordan called him “their MVP” as well. He averaged an impressive 18.5 points on 65% shooting. Aside from Horace, Dennis Scott had back-to-back 20-point games in Games 5 and 6. Then Nick Anderson had a 22-point performance in Game 3. It was just obvious that the Orlando Magic were a better team. We saw in the following postseason just how much they needed a good low-post defender to defeat the Magic. With the addition of Dennis Rodman, he was a strong enough defender to guard Shaq one-on-one, and the Bulls were able to contain their outside shooting in the 1996 conference finals. Nick Anderson averaged 8.3 points on 31% shooting, and Dennis Scott averaged 7.3 points on 27% shooting. They were completely shut down, and that was also thanks to the Bulls making Ron Harper a key piece to their team. He only played a total of 39 minutes in the 1995 series. They were using B.J. Armstrong, who did not provide the same defensive versatility as Harper did. But in the offseason, they received a blessing in disguise. B.J. was lost to the Toronto Raptors in the expansion draft, and that allowed Chicago to fully unleash Ron. By doing that, they created one of the greatest defensive backcourts of all time. The length and versatility of Harper, Jordan, and Pippen allowed them to switch off and defend post players without resorting to double-teaming. With the improvements that they made on their roster; the Magic were no match for the Bulls in ’96. But in ’95, they had to rely on Jordan too much and they did not have the right team to defend Shaq properly. You could say that they caught this team at the perfect time. They not only lost a huge piece to their dynasty run, but they had to play against him. In Michael’s earlier years, he could just score 40 points a game to compensate for the team’s lack of scoring options. But he was coming off a 21-month break from basketball, and he wasn’t physically able to provide a historic scoring stretch just yet. They also caught the GOAT at the perfect time. It’s fair to say that Orlando beat this team fair and square. It’s also fair to say that this playoff defeat is in no way a black mark in Jordan’s legacy. The numbers say he played great. In fact, you could say he exceeded expectations if we take into consideration his 21-month absence from the game. If only he played a little better down the stretch of some of these games, and maybe they could have beaten this team. But what about you all? Do you think this series should count against Michael? Do you blame him for the loss? Or why do you think the Magic beat this team? Let me know in the comments. Thanks for watching.

There are a lot of misconceptions about Michael Jordan’s performance against the Orlando Magic in the 1995 playoffs. Did he underperform? Was he the reason why the Chicago Bulls lost? Should this be a black mark in his career? The truth will be revealed in this video.

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