ORLANDO - Never one to miss out on a prime marketing opportunity, Orlando Magic co-founder, then-GM and 24/7 pitchman Pat Williams pounced on an opportune moment back in 1989 to capitalize on a surprisingly strong start by the expansion franchise.
A day after the Magic rallied to defeat the Cleveland Cavaliers in Northeast Ohio and a day before they would host the defending NBA champion Detroit Pistons at Orlando Arena, Williams tapped into his creative genius to properly celebrate Orlando’s surprising 2-1 start to the franchise’s inaugural season back in 1989.
``In November, we were really playing well, and everybody was thinking, `We might have something here,’’’ remembered Jeff Turner, a reserve forward on that first Magic squad. ``We played that first game of the regular season and lost and then we beat New York and go on the road to Cleveland for an up-and-back. Dave Corzine gets hurt in that game, but we come back and win that game.
``We fly back that next day into Orlando and Pat Williams has the Magic Dancers, Stuff and fans there and he’s passing out (posters). We get off the airplane – it was commercial flights back then – and people are cheering and are all crazy because we’re 2-1,’’ Turner added with a hearty laugh. ``Then, before the next game, when we’re running out on the floor, (Public Address announcer) Paul Porter gives us the, `Stand … and … Cheer, Your … Atlantic Division-leading … Orlando Magic,’ introduction and we all just laughed.’’
With the NBA season suspended in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic sweeping the globe, Fox Sports Florida will be using the next couple of weeks to show select classic games from the Magic’s glorious, 31-year history. After debuting the Magic’s first-ever preseason game and its first-ever, regular-season victory, Fox Sports Florida will be re-airing the Magic’s defeats of the Los Angeles Lakers and the Chicago Bulls early in the 1989-90 season. Orlando’s 108-103 defeat of the Magic Johnson-led Lakers on Dec. 10, 1989 will be shown by Fox Sports Florida tonight at 8 p.m. The Magic’s 110-109 defeat of the Michael Jordan-led Bulls on Dec. 20, 1989 will be shown on Saturday at 6 p.m. That game, one in which the Magic captured following a game-winning shot by Otis Smith to offset 52 points by Jordan, will be replayed Tuesday at 6 p.m.
Orlando’s first-ever team got off to a 7-7 start in 1989 – a somewhat shocking occurrence considering that the rival Miami Heat opened their first season 0-17 a year earlier. Following a crippling injury to Corzine, that first Magic squad ultimately slumped to 18-64 – meaning it went just 11-57 following the 7-7 start to the season.
Clearly, there weren’t many high moments the rest of the way, but undoubtedly two of them came when Orlando smothered Johnson and the Lakers and outlasted the brilliance of Jordan for two landmark victories.
Against the Lakers, Terry Catledge scored 26 points and grabbed 12 rebounds and the Magic used a 35-18 fourth quarter to rally for a five-point victory over James Worthy (31 points), Pat Riley and an L.A. team that would go on to finish 63-19.
Most notable from that game was Orlando’s defense holding Johnson to just three-of-16 shooting in the upset. Playing on the second night of a back-to-back set of games – during a time when teams would fly to the next city on the same day as the game – the Lakers shot just 39.3 percent from the floor and made only one of nine 3-point shots. The Magic, which connected on 46.7 percent of their shots, did not make a shot from beyond the arc, meaning there was just one made 3-point shot in 48 minutes of basketball – an unheard-of statistic from today’s NBA.
Johnson finished with 14 points, eight assists, seven rebounds and four steals that night despite the poor shooting.
``Me being out there, guarding Magic Johnson, I was in awe,’’ said Magic Hall of Famer Nick Anderson, who had 10 points, five rebounds and a steal that night while handling a large portion of the defensive duties against Johnson. ``I can recall a couple of my friends and even older brother telling me before the game, `Look man, don’t go out there and not play against these and just be in awe.’ I can remember them saying that today, but I was still in awe to be standing next to Magic Johnson.
``Playing against the great ones that I had always looked up to and watched, after a while, you just have to get past that (awe factor) and say, `Hey, I’m out here with these guys and I belong,’’’ Anderson added. ``I couldn’t be in awe of them every time I ran down the floor with them. I’m sure a lot of young guys go through that when they face Steph Curry and LeBron (James) the first time they face them. But, after a few trips up and down the floor, you settle in and go right at them and that’s what I tried to do against Magic.’’
There wasn’t much slowing down Jordan on Dec. 20, 1989 when the Bulls’ superstar guard made 20 of 37 shots. Not only did he score a game-high 52 points, but he also had seven assists orchestrating things for Bill Cartwright (19 points and nine rebounds), Horace Grant (10 points, 10 rebounds, four assists, four steals and three blocks) and Scottie Pippen (nine points on four-of-13 shooting).
Orlando got all the offense it needed from Smith (28 points), CatleDge (26 points), Reggie Theus (18 points) and Sam Vincent (13 points and 12 assists). Anderson was at his do-everything against a Bulls’ team he grew up rooting for while being raised in Chicago with his 10 points, eight rebounds, three assists and four steals.
Some two decades before he would become the Magic’s General Manager, Smith came off the bench and carved up a Chicago defense spearheaded by Jordan, Pippen and Grant. That night against Chicago, Smith used his deceptive quickness and explosive leaping ability to make 10 of 15 shots, including the game-winner in the closing seconds for the 110-109 victory.
``Otis had a way of covering a lot of ground and ending up with a jump stop and then exploding off the floor because he was so explosive,’’ recalled Turner, now a television color analyst for Fox Sports Florida. ``You watched the move and watched him get all the way to the basket from the 3-point line, and you’re just holding your breath that nobody called travelling on him. He went through a pretty good (Bulls’) defensive team that night.’’
What beating the Johnson-led Lakers and the Jordan-led Bulls did for the Magic early in that first season, Turner said, was it legitimized the franchise to basketball fans in Central Florida and beyond.
``I think, for our fans, that Lakers’ game was amazing for our fans,’’ recalled Turner, who averaged 5.1 points and 3.7 rebounds in 60 games of that first season with the Magic. ``If I remember correctly, Magic (Johnson) didn’t play well that night and struggled a little bit, so that helped us a little.
``But, again, beating teams like the Lakers and the Bulls were all about building excitement for our fans,’’ he continued. ``If you are in Orlando and didn’t have a team (prior to the arrival of the Magic), maybe you are rooting for the Lakers, the Celtics or the Bulls. So, beating a star-studded team like the Lakers early in that first season the way that we did, that was a huge win for our organization.’’
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