Penny Hardaway breaks down what went wrong when the Magic lost to the Rockets in the 1995 NBA Finals: 'We were so overconfident'

Confidence is a good thing, especially in the cutthroat and high-stakes world of professional basketball. However, too much of it can also lead to a downfall, as was the case for the Orlando Magic in the 1995 NBA Finals.

Led by superstars Penny Hardaway and Shaquille O'Neal, the Magic were on a roll, especially after they eliminated the “Greatest of All Time,” Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls in the second round. With a well-rounded team that had Nick Anderson, Dennis Scott, Brian Shaw, and Horace Grant, the Magic were poised to win their first championship in only their sixth season in the Association.

However, it wasn’t meant to be. Despite leading by as many as 20 points in Game 1, the Magic couldn’t pull off the win. From that point onwards, they unraveled and were eventually swept by the Houston Rockets.

A defeat that still stings to this day

Talking about that series on the “Out the Mud” podcast, there’s still a hint of pain in Penny’s voice, recalling the immense confidence they felt after winning over “Air Jordan” and then defeating Reggie Miller and the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference Finals.

“Hurt me to this day, still, bro. It’s still that type of stain on me. When we beat Big Mike—that’s what Chicago called him, Big Mike, okay, Black Jesus. So we beat them, and we were like, ‘We’re gonna beat Indiana.’ Even though Indiana had a good team, we did. We were so overconfident against Houston that it just cost us the series,” Penny told Zach Randolph and Tony Allen.

Though the Rockets were no slouches with the presence of Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler, Hardaway said they had already proven they were the better team in the regular season, beating Houston twice in lopsided fashion. However, Orlando soon learned that the NBA Finals was a whole different beast.

Although the Magic dominated the series opener, Houston didn’t panic and slowly chipped away at the deficit, coming to within three, 110-107. Anderson had a chance to put the game away but missed four straight free throws to leave the door ajar for the Rockets. Still, Orlando was still one defensive stop away from taking a 1-0 series lead. However, Penny said that Anderson was still distraught over his missed free throws and that he failed to heed the instructions in the huddle.

“So we’re in the huddle, and we’re telling Nick, ‘We gotta take a delay of game.’ We were really big on taking delays of game—you step out of bounds, ref blows the whistle, and you see what the team is about to do,” Penny narrated. “So I’m on Kenny Smith under the rim. I’m relaxed like a motherfuc*** because I know Nick is about to take a delay of game. I guess his mind is still fuc**d up on the free throws, man. Kenny Smith got away from me by about three feet, and Nick didn’t step out of bounds yet.”

Nick’s lack of focus proved disastrous as Kenny broke free, pump-faked to get Penny off his feet, and banked in the game-tying three-pointer.

“We go to overtime, we lose, and the rest is history,” the four-time All-Star remarked.