2002-03: Playoff Stunner
The 2002-2003 season marked the eleventh straight year in which the Magic finished with .500 record or better as they ended the regular season at 42-40. The record was good enough to earn Orlando a spot in the playoffs for the third straight season, where they faced-off against the top-seeded Pistons. Orlando was able to spilt the first the first two games, and hold court at home taking a 3-1 series lead. Unfortunately, the tide turned against the Magic and the Pistons prevailed in seven games.

Despite the heart-breaking playoff exit, there were several positives of the 2002-2003 season, many coming in the form of Tracy McGrady. McGrady cemented his reputation as one of the league’s top talents as he was crowned NBA Scoring Champion and finished fourth in MVP Voting. McGrady’s final numbers exemplify how versatile his game is as he averaged 32.1 points per game, 6.5 rebounds per game, and 5.5 assists per game.

McGrady was not the only Magic standout, however. Rookies Gordan Giricek and Drew Gooden, who were both acquired in a February trade with Memphis, received some post-season accolades of their own. Gooden was named to NBA All-Rookie First Team, while Giricek made Second Team. In addition to the rookie accomplishments, Pat Garrity was selected to compete in the 1-800-CALL-ATT shootout at the 2003 NBA All-Star weekend, where he finished fourth.

The Magic were once again plagued by injuries this season however, most notably was forward Grant Hill. Hill was limited to 29 games before being placed on the injury list due a sore left ankle, one that eventually required surgery.

If Hill can get healthy and the Magic make some off-season moves, they should be back in the playoffs and possibly past the first round.

2002-03 Magic Regular Statistics  PLAYER AVERAGES               REBOUNDS    Player G GS MPG FG% 3p% FT% OFF DEF TOT APG SPG BPG TO PF PPG  Tracy McGrady 75 74 39.4 .457 .386 .793 1.60 4.90 6.50 5.5 1.65 .79 2.60 2.10 32.1  Grant Hill 29 29 29.1 .492 .250 .819 1.40 5.70 7.10 4.2 .97 .45 2.90 1.60 14.5  Gordan Giricek 27 27 35.6 .440 .328 .816 .70 4.10 4.80 2.5 1.11 .07 1.89 2.00 14.3  Gordan Giricek (TOT) 76 62 28.3 .436 .341 .820 .50 2.70 3.10 1.8 .68 .11 1.91 2.10 12.3  Drew Gooden 19 18 28.6 .498 .000 .738 3.10 5.40 8.40 1.1 .79 .68 2.37 2.70 13.6  Drew Gooden (TOT) 70 47 26.8 .457 .292 .712 2.30 4.20 6.50 1.2 .76 .50 2.14 2.50 12.5  Pat Garrity 81 53 31.9 .419 .396 .830 .90 2.90 3.80 1.5 .77 .25 .95 3.10 10.7  Darrell Armstrong 82 23 28.7 .409 .336 .878 1.10 2.50 3.60 3.9 1.65 .16 1.95 2.00 9.4  Shawn Kemp 79 55 20.7 .418 .000 .742 1.90 3.80 5.70 .7 .84 .42 1.29 3.00 6.8  Jacque Vaughn 80 48 21.1 .448 .235 .776 .30 1.20 1.50 2.9 .80 .03 1.21 2.10 5.9  Horace Grant 5 1 17.0 .520 .000 .000 .40 1.20 1.60 1.4 .60 .00 .20 1.00 5.2  Andrew DeClercq 77 21 17.2 .534 .000 .644 1.80 2.60 4.40 .7 .51 .47 1.09 3.40 4.7  Pat Burke 62 8 12.6 .382 .143 .690 .90 1.40 2.40 .4 .31 .40 .76 1.60 4.3  Steven Hunter 33 5 13.5 .544 .000 .409 1.20 1.70 2.80 .2 .27 1.09 .45 1.70 3.9  Chris Whitney 22 1 13.2 .341 .194 .917 .10 .90 1.00 1.0 .55 .05 .73 .70 3.5  Chris Whitney (TOT) 51 21 20.6 .355 .305 .826 .10 1.30 1.30 2.8 .57 .04 1.39 1.80 7.0  Jeryl Sasser 75 4 13.7 .309 .295 .679 .90 1.60 2.50 .9 .60 .16 .52 1.20 2.6  Olumide Oyedeji 27 3 5.4 .435 .000 .636 .40 1.50 1.90 .2 .19 .11 .19 1.10 1.0 Team Averages 82 0 241.5 .436 .357 .777 11.7 29.2 40.9 20.4 8.5 3.7 14.4 23.0 98.5 Opponents 82 0 241.5 .455 .334 .767 11.8 31.7 43.5 22.4 7.8 5.0 16.4 22.2 98.4 created: 10/04/2004,11:33 AM

PLAYER TOTALS               REBOUNDS    Player G GS MIN FGM-A 3PM-A FTM-A OFF DEF TOT AST STL BLK TO PF PTS  Tracy McGrady 75 74 2,954 829-1,813 173-448 576-726 121 367 488 411 124 59 195 156 2,407  Pat Garrity 81 53 2,584 312-744 161-407 83-100 72 234 306 121 62 20 77 255 868  Darrell Armstrong 82 23 2,350 263-643 78-232 165-188 91 204 295 323 135 13 160 167 769  Shawn Kemp 79 55 1,633 211-505 0-1 115-155 147 304 451 55 66 33 102 239 537  Jacque Vaughn 80 48 1,686 184-411 8-34 97-125 26 92 118 232 64 2 97 169 473  Grant Hill 29 29 843 151-307 1-4 118-144 40 166 206 122 28 13 84 46 421  Gordan Giricek 27 27 961 143-325 39-119 62-76 18 112 130 67 30 2 51 55 387  Gordan Giricek (TOT) 76 62 2,148 350-803 85-249 150-183 36 202 238 137 52 8 145 159 935  Andrew DeClercq 77 21 1,327 149-279 0-0 67-104 142 197 339 52 39 36 84 258 365  Pat Burke 62 8 783 113-296 1-7 40-58 57 89 146 23 19 25 47 99 267  Drew Gooden 19 18 544 100-201 0-2 59-80 58 102 160 20 15 13 45 51 259  Drew Gooden (TOT) 70 47 1,873 355-777 14-48 151-212 163 292 455 83 53 35 150 172 875  Jeryl Sasser 75 4 1,025 64-207 13-44 53-78 64 120 184 65 45 12 39 91 194  Steven Hunter 33 5 447 56-103 0-0 18-44 38 55 93 6 9 36 15 56 130  Chris Whitney 22 1 290 30-88 7-36 11-12 2 19 21 21 12 1 16 15 78  Chris Whitney (TOT) 51 21 1,052 124-349 50-164 57-69 3 64 67 145 29 2 71 92 355  Olumide Oyedeji 27 3 145 10-23 0-0 7-11 10 40 50 5 5 3 5 30 27  Horace Grant 5 1 85 13-25 0-0 0-0 2 6 8 7 3 0 1 5 26 Team Totals 82 0 19,805 2,947-6,763 568-1,590 1,616-2,079 958 2,392 3,350 1,676 696 300 1,177 1,888 8,078 Opponents 82 0 -- 3,007-6,602 405-1,211 1,648-2,150 970 2,596 3,566 1,837 643 411 1,341 1,823 8,067 created: 10/04/2004,11:33 AM