ORLANDO - As NBA fans have been reminded repeatedly of late through ESPN’s ``The Last Dance’’ docuseries, rare was it the time when a foe got the best of the Michael Jordan and the dynastic Chicago Bulls.
Chicago-native Nick Anderson, former Bull Horace Grant and the 1995 Orlando Magic are on that short list of foes that found a way to tug on Superman’s cape and ultimately take down ``Air Jordan’’ in the prime of his career.
As it turns out, Orlando’s defeat the Bulls in the second round of the 1995 NBA playoffs – one where Jordan wore No. 45 and was still rounding into form following a retirement stint while playing Minor League baseball – proved to be the final playoff series loss of his Hall of Fame career. Jordan capped his final three seasons in Chicago with titles in 1996, 1997 and 1998 and never made the playoffs in two seasons in Washington following a second retirement.
``That was so big for us as a young team and a franchise and I think we are still the last team to beat the Bulls in a playoff series,’’ Anderson said of the Magic’s 1995 memories. ``That gave us a lot of credibility and respect, beating Michael and the Bulls like that. I know M.J. was coming out of retirement, but as they say, the game must be played, and we won it.’’
With the NBA season suspended in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic sweeping the globe, Fox Sports Florida has used much of April to show select classic games from the Magic’s glorious, 31-year history. After debuting the Magic’s first-ever preseason game, its first-ever, regular-season victory, 1989 wins over Magic Johnson’s Lakers and Jordan’s Bulls and Shaquille O’Neal’s Magic debut from 1992, Fox Sports Florida will re-air Orlando’s 4-2 defeat of Chicago in the 1995 playoffs beginning on Tuesday. Game 1 will air Tuesday at 8 p.m. and re-air on Saturday (May 2) at noon. Games 3 (Thursday, 8 p.m.), 5 (Saturday, 5 p.m.) and 6 (Saturday, 7:30 p.m.) – all Magic victories – will follow this week.
Anderson, who grew up in Chicago revering Jordan’s greatness as an all-around force, produced arguably the greatest moment in Magic history at the end of Game 1. With the Magic trailing by one and Jordan expecting a foul, Anderson briefly poked the ball away from Jordan in the backcourt before the Chicago legend recovered and put some distance between himself and Anderson by spinning free. As Jordan looked over his left shoulder, Anderson hustled back into the play by coming up on the right side and batting the ball away. Penny Hardaway recovered the loose ball – and was credited for the steal that Anderson is most associated with nabbing – and got the ball ahead to a streaking Grant, who dunked over Toni Kukoc for the game-winning points.
``Anderson stole the ball! Anderson stole the ball! Nick Anderson stole the ball from Michael Jordan!’’ then radio play-by-play announcer David Steele said of the historic play.
Chicago still had one more chance to win, but Jordan passed up a potential go-ahead shot from the foul line when his dribble penetration was cut off by Anderson and Jordan’s pass was behind a cutting Scottie Pippen and went out of bounds.
To this day, Anderson still hears about his clutch, game-winning steal of Jordan from a couple of drastically different perspectives.
``I still get asked about that play a lot and (Magic) fans still talk about how big of a moment that was for us,’’ said Anderson, who was inducted into the Magic Hall of Fame following his 10 years with the franchise from 1989-98. ``And, my friends back home in Chicago are still mad about me for making that play to beat the Bulls.
``My personal opinion of the play is this: It was a great basketball play, but I don’t think it would have been talked about as much if it would have been against someone else,’’ Anderson added. ``But because it happened against Michael Jordan, that just made it an even bigger moment.’’
In Game 5 of a series tied at 2-2, Grant became the hero against the Chicago team he left in free agency in 1994 to sign with the Magic. With Chicago coach Phil Jackson daring him to beat them from the perimeter, Grant made 10 of 13 shots and had a team-high 24 points in the Magic’s Game 5 win at Orlando Arena.
Grabbing the lead in the series proved to be critical as the Magic went into Chicago in Game 6 and won big after Dennis Scott, Anderson and Hardaway each buried four 3-pointers apiece against a Bulls’ team determined to double-team O’Neal on the inside. Afterward, Magic players celebrated the series victory by lifting Grant up onto their shoulders and taking him off the court as vanquished Bulls’ players angrily looked on.
``We knew Ho Grant was going to come around in that series because he was just as fired up playing against the Bulls as I was being a Chicago kid,’’ Anderson recalled. ``That was his former team and he wanted to prove something to them. We knew that elbow (of the lane) jump shot, that baseline jumper and those pick-and-pop shots were going to come around because those were his shots all season. He came through for us just at the right time in Game 5.
``When we hoisted (Grant) in the air and took him off the court in Chicago, he was so happy,’’ Anderson added. ``I actually said to myself at that time, `If we meet (the Bulls) again next year, they are going to be pissed at us.’ Sure enough, they were. To lose on their home floor, they were in shock and we were so happy because that was such a tough place to play. That series was a big one for the confidence of our team.’’
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