Orlando Magic has made just two final appearances, but 1995 was something special. The team defeated Michael Jordan‘s Chicago Bulls in the conference semi-finals. Though this was Jordan’s return from his first retirement, a win is a win. But back in the 90s, it was more than just that. So was it the elation of the result that distracted the Magic from their ultimate goal? At least Shaquille O’Neal has, on multiple occasions, taken responsibility for this. 

During a recent episode of his ‘The Big Podcast‘, Shaq stated the 1995 season taught him to never celebrate before the job is finished. He recalled having multiple off days ahead of the NBA finals series against the Houston Rockets. “So coach Hill gave us three days off… Me and D. Scott jumped in the flight… We was at Magic City. We was in Atlanta… Chilling all night, partying,” he added. Notably, Shaq has stated this in earlier instances as well that the team was riding high on the emotions of beating MJ’s Bulls.

And the feeling was not unwarranted for, as not many had the chance of outperforming Mike in the playoffs in the 90s. It was something big enough to celebrate. But Shaquille O’Neal quite did not gather himself back from the phase he had slipped into. He recollected on the podcast that even after returning from their break, they had a terrible practice.

“It didn’t matter. I had an appearance at Universal Studios. I had a pre-parade at Disney… Was working all the way until the night before the game,” he said further revealing that it was followed up by DJing all night. So by D-Day, Shaq drained himself out from all the activities he indulged in till the night before Game 1. Although he scored 26 points, 16 rebounds, and 9 assists, it fell short against Hakeem’s 31 points, 6 rebounds, and 7 assists.

The first half had interestingly favored Magic, but the Rockets just did not give up. “Something happened at the end. But once we lost that momentum, it was hard to get back. So I blame myself for us not getting that first championship,” Shaq said on the podcast. As for his reference to something happening at the end, the indication seems to be towards Nick Anderson’s missed free throws.

Why is Nick Anderson blamed for Magic’s Game 1 loss?

It is worth mentioning the Magic could have finished Game 1 in their favor in the final minute. The score was still 110-107 in Magic’s favor. And this gap could’ve further widened, but a missed open 3-point shot failed to seize this opportunity.

However, what came next could have covered up any other mistakes the Magic may have made in Game 1, as the ball reached Nick Anderson and the opposing team fouled him. Anderson was a reliable free-throw shooter with 69.6 FT shooting percentage till then. But it seemed luck was not his favor on that very particular day. Not only did he miss both his free throws, he drew another foul after that and missed those two free throws as well.

Subsequently, a 3-point shot sunk in by Kenny Smith in the last 6 seconds on the clock pushed the game to overtime. Had Anderson made even one of his free throws, this could’ve been avoided. And the final outcome was Rockets winning Game 1 on 120-118. And there seemed no coming back for the Magic as the Rockets swept them in the series. 

Stay tuned for more such updates. And to follow what Shaq’s ex-agent, Leonard Armato, has to say about the infamous Shaquille O’Neal-Kobe Bryant feud, Caitlin Clark’s Olympic snub, and more, watch this video.