What’s Aged the Best?
The Best: The Magic and the Bulls
This will be something I touch upon in the next section, but even through all the 1990s-ness of the basketball in this series, the modernity of the Orlando Magic and Chicago Bulls stand out. They look and play like teams that might fit in the modern NBA (almost).
There was a lot of uniformity in playstyles back at this time — run a lot of post-ups and isolations. It can create some predictable and frustrating basketball. The illegal defense violation is there essentially to keep teams from zoning and forcing teams to pass the ball.
But undoubtedly the way the Magic and Bulls played look and felt like a more complicated system.
The Bulls’ triangle system creates a lot more motion and spreads the floor really well. It gives Michael Jordan the ability to attack off the dribble and in isolation while keeping others involved.
The Magic really ran a spread offense around Shaquille O’Neal. They wanted to dump the ball into the post, but then they would cut and move off of him, finding Horace Grant or Anfernee Hardaway or Nick Anderson diving to the basket. Orlando was able to create a lot of movement and space the floor.
The Magic were one of the first successful teams to use the 3-pointer. In 1995, the Magic averaged 17.2 3-point attempts per game (seventh in the league) and 37.0 percent from beyond the arc (ninth in the league). Six of the top seven teams in 3-point field goal attempts made the playoffs that year (including the Houston Rockets leading the way and nine of the top 10 teams in 3-point percentage made the playoffs.
Those who figured out the 3-point line thrived. But this was the first year run of teams that won really using the 3-pointer as a primary weapon.
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Beyond that, the Bulls and Magic were devastating in transition. Both teams had amazing athletes and smart passers in transition. If offenses made a mistake and did not get back, both teams would finish strong.
Even defensively, both teams showed a willingness to switch a lot. The Magic did not mind having O’Neal hedge on pick and rolls and switch onto the perimeter. Horace Grant could guard wings effectively. Toni Kukoc was one of the original stretch-4s, pulling Grant away from the basket.
In that way, both teams look incredibly modern. And it is easy to see why both teams rose to the top of the heap in the mid-1990s Eastern Conference. Even as they had to deal with the physicality from the New York Knicks and the needling from the Indiana Pacers.