With the rise of Jokic, Embiid, and Brother Alphabet, more and more fans have begun to compare them with the previous supergiants, and some people have even said that Jokic and Embiid's dominance can be compared to O'Neal at his peak. But in fact, they are still too far behind O'Neal, you must know that O'Neal at his peak led the Lakers to three consecutive championships, and his influence on the court at that time was one of the best in history.
And O'Neal was also at the peak of his debut, he entered the league in 1992, and averaged 23.4 points, 13.9 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 3.5 blocks per game in his rookie season. At the age of 22, O'Neal led the Magic to the highest moment in team history, in 1995 the Magic entered the playoffs as the first in the East, and then eliminated a number of strong opponents to win the Eastern Conference championship, which was also the first time in their team history to enter the Finals. It's a pity that when it came to the finals when they met the Rockets led by Olajuwon, the Magic had no ability to fight back, and they were directly swept 4-0 in the end.
But O'Neal and the Magic are not to be ashamed, after all, they are facing Olajuwon in his prime, who had also beaten Ewing's Knicks in the Finals the previous year to win the championship. And judging from the overall game, although the Magic lost very simply, O'Neal, as the star of the house, did his best throughout the playoffs, and he played his own level in the finals even in the face of Olajuwon's defense, so he did not leave himself with too many regrets.
So how did O'Neill play that year? And what kind of dominance did Olajuwon play in the Finals to sweep the Magic? Let's review it together.
In the regular season, O'Neal + Hardaway both broke out, and the Magic completely rose
After being swept by the Pacers in the first round in 1994, O'Neal and Hardaway also ushered in the evolution of the new season, O'Neal averaged 29.3 points, 13.2 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 2.9 blocks per game in the regular season, shooting 59.9% from the field, and he also won the first scoring title of his career this year and was selected to the All-Second Team for the first time. Hardaway, on the other hand, averaged 20.9 points, 4.4 rebounds, 7.2 assists and 1.7 steals per game while shooting 51.2% from the field.
Under the leadership of O'Neal and Hardaway, the Magic went all the way to a 57-25 record, and in the end, they also beat the Knicks, Pacers and other strong teams to rank first in the East, which is also the first time in O'Neal's career that the team has won the first place in the division.
In the playoffs, the Magic eliminated the basketball gods and advanced to the finals
In the playoffs, the Magic faced the Celtics in the first round, and O'Neal averaged 22.5 points and 13.5 rebounds per game to easily help the team defeat the Green Army with a score of 3-1. The second-round Magic also ushered in their first test of the playoffs, opposite the Bulls led by Jordan, who had just returned this season, and the two sides fought six games in this round of the series to separate the winner. Jordan, who has been absent for a long time, still performs well, he can average 31 points, 6.5 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 2.5 steals and 1.8 blocks per game, while O'Neal averages 24.3 points, 13.2 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal and 2 blocks per game, and he is not afraid of the basketball god.
The Magic faced the Pacers again, and this series was tougher than the Bulls, and the two sides fought until a tiebreaker to determine the winner. The Pacers players led by Miller brought a lot of trouble to the Magic, but in the face of difficulties, O'Neal played the best performance of the first three rounds of the series, he averaged 27.3 points, 9.6 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 1.1 steals and 1.7 blocks per game, shooting 66.1% from the field.
In the finals, O'Neill and Olajuwon staged an inside peak showdown
In contrast, the Rockets' promotion process in the West was even more difficult than that of the Magic, who played the first round of the series against the Jazz, the second round against the Suns was also decided by a tiebreaker, and the Western Conference against the Spurs they won the series in six games. As soon as the finals came up, the two sides staged a white-hot battle, and the young Magic team played full momentum as soon as they came up, and they had already led to double digits after the first quarter.
In the second quarter, the Magic continued their fiery offensive state, with more than three minutes left in the half, Anderson hit a three-pointer to stretch the gap to 20 points, and although the Rockets also responded, the Magic still led by 11 points at halftime. In the second half, the Rockets finally got into the groove, and the second-in-command Drexler took the lead to help the team score frequently, and Olajuwon also completely dominated the interior, and finally the Rockets overtook by 7 points after the third quarter.
The game intensified at the decisive moment of the final quarter, and the score was also very anxious, the Magic side relied on O'Neal's play to stretch the difference to 3 points in less than 1 and a half minutes of the game, and the two sides began to play iron, and at the critical moment, Anderson dramatically missed four consecutive free throws to give the Rockets a chance to tie the score, and Smith of the Rockets stood up in the last attack, and he shook Hardaway and shot three points directly and finally dragged the game into overtime.
The two sides continued to go back and forth in overtime, and the difference was maintained at one ball possession, until there were 40 seconds left, and Olajuwon still only led by 3 points when he threw a shot into the Rockets. In the end, although the Magic relied on Scott's three-point score to tie the score again, the Rockets completed the quasi-stunner, and Olajuwon helped the team win the opening blow with a rebound in the last attack.
Although the next three games were not as dramatic as G1, the game process was also very anxious, as the challenger's magic, they did their best in every game, even if G2 they once fell behind to 22 points, but in the end they stubbornly dragged the game to the end. So even if the Magic didn't escape the fate of being swept by the Rockets, they still deserve a lot of respect, and the stars on both sides staged a very exciting inside duel for the fans.
Throughout the series, O'Neal averaged 28 points, 12.5 rebounds, 6.3 assists and 2.5 blocks per game while shooting 59.5% from the field. From the data, it can be seen that O'Neal's performance on the offensive end is far beyond his form in the first three rounds, and it can be said that he is stronger when he is stronger. And in the face of a large number of packs, O'Neal not only averaged nearly 30 points per game, but also handed out 6.3 assists, but at that time he was still a little inexperienced, so he also averaged 5.3 turnovers per game.
As for Olajuwon, he averaged 32.8 points, 11.5 rebounds, 5.5 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks per game in the Finals, he is undoubtedly the most outstanding player in the series, and he played super dominance on both offensive and defensive ends, so he finally defended the FMVP title without any suspense. Compared with O'Neal, Olajuwon is obviously too mature in this period, but it is a bit far-fetched to say that he is completely bursting, after all, O'Neal also averages close to 30+10 performances per game.