20 Years Later: Nick Anderson stole the ball

May 7, 1995 was one of the best days in Orlando Magic history. Twenty years ago, Nick Anderson stole the ball from Michael Jordan, making him look human.

It is considered one of the greatest, if not the greatest, moments in Orlando Magic history.

With 16 seconds left, the Chicago Bulls led by one point with the ball after Dennis Scott tried forcing a pass to a cutting Anfernee Hardaway for a turnover. Michael Jordan received the ball at the free throw line with Nick Anderson the only one left to hound him.

And hound him he would.

Anderson got beat initially, but caught Jordan looking the other way, poking the ball away from behind for Hardaway to start a fast break where Horace Grant finished things off for a Magic win.

From Susan Slusser of the Orlando Sentinel:

"The Chicago Bulls were surprised by the means the Orlando Magic used to beat them, but they shouldn’t have been. They’ve seen it before. In the last regular-season meeting at Orlando Arena, Nick Anderson tipped the ball from the Bulls, and Anfernee Hardaway dunked the game-winner with less then a second left. On Sunday, with the Magic trailing by one with 10 seconds to go, Anderson duplicated his feat by knocking the ball loose from Michael Jordan as Orlando went on to a 94-91 victory in Game 1 of the best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinals."

Orlando had stunned Chicago, and stunned the NBA, for a 1-0 series lead and a 94-91 win at the Orlando Arena. It is so a part of Magic history, that we really do not think about it any other way.

Nick Anderson is always going to steal the ball from Michael Jordan.

Thursday was the 20th anniversary of that great game. And it really was a great game. The Magic held a seven-point lead in the early fourth quarter. That was the largest lead of the game.

Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen both struggled from the floor, shooting a combined 10 for 33. Jordan missed two free throws, had the famous steal and missed Scottie Pippen on the ensuing possession for an easy layup on a bad pass all in the final two minutes. Shaquille O’Neal made — MADE — 12 of 16 free throws including two big free throws late.

Jordan had bruised his hand in the clinching Game Four against the Hornets and was still having trouble dribbling and shooting entering Game One.

These are the details that get forgotten. It was an incredible game.

So, for the 20th anniversary of the game, I decided it was due for a re-watch.

Thanks to an intrepid YouTube user, the entire national broadcast of the game (starting at the 6:30ish mark of the first quarter, thanks Rockets-Jazz Game 5) is on YouTube and can be found in the Orlando Magic Video Vault.

Re-watching the game you learn little things that history forgot and get to relive a great moment as it happens, sensing the tide of history grow around you. The whole game is about two hours on tape and I live-tweeted it since there were no games on Thursday night.

Happy Anniversary!

Next: Setting the stage