1998-99: Stellar Season Ends Prematurely
After posting a .500 record the previous year, the Orlando Magic took the East by storm during the lockout-shortened 1998-99 season. Chuck Daly's squad tied Miami and Indiana for the conference's best record (33-17) and was nearly unbeatable at home (21-4).

The Magic made an early exit from the playoffs, however, when they ran into Allen Iverson and an energetic Philadelphia 76ers squad in the first round.

Orlando's Darrell Armstrong became the first player in NBA history to win the Sixth Man and Most Improved Player awards in the same season. The point guard averaged 13.8 points per game and was among the league-leaders in free throw percentage (.904, third in NBA), steals (2.16 spg, eighth) and assists (6.7 apg, 12th).

Penny Hardaway led the team in scoring (15.8 ppg) and was sixth in the NBA with 2.22 steals per game. Nick Anderson averaged 14.9 points, scored his 10,000th career point on Feb. 8 and poured in 40 against New Jersey on April 30.

The Magic added two first-round picks to the mix. Forward Matt Harpring averaged 8.2 points and was named to the All-Rookie First Team, and center Michael Doleac took All-Rookie Second Team honors.

Orlando also was the scene of a family reunion, as Dominique and Gerald Wilkins became NBA teammates for the first time. The Wilkins brothers scored a combined 38,404 points during their careers.

Despite the three-way tie in the East, Miami took the Atlantic Division title and the conference's top seed in the playoffs because of a tiebreaker. Indiana was No. 2 by virtue of being the Central Division champion; Orlando took the third seed and was pitted against No. 6 Philadelphia.

After the teams split the first two games in Orlando, the series shifted to Philadelphia. Buoyed by a frenzied crowd at First Union Center, the Sixers grabbed a 97-85 victory behind Iverson's 33 points and 10 steals. Iverson poured in a series-high 37 points and dished out nine assists in Game 4 as Philadelphia eliminated Orlando 101-91.

1998-99 Magic Regular Statistics  PLAYER AVERAGES               REBOUNDS    Player G GS MPG FG% 3p% FT% OFF DEF TOT APG SPG BPG TO PF PPG  Anfernee Hardaway 50 50 38.9 .420 .286 .706 1.50 4.20 5.70 5.3 2.22 .46 3.00 2.20 15.8  Nick Anderson 47 39 33.6 .395 .347 .611 1.10 4.80 5.90 1.9 1.36 .32 1.77 1.50 14.9  Darrell Armstrong 50 15 30.0 .441 .365 .904 1.10 2.50 3.60 6.7 2.16 .08 3.16 1.80 13.8  Isaac Austin 49 49 25.7 .408 .286 .669 1.70 3.10 4.80 1.8 .96 .71 2.33 2.60 9.7  Horace Grant 50 50 33.2 .434 .000 .671 2.30 4.70 7.00 1.8 .92 1.20 .88 2.00 8.9  Matt Harpring 50 22 22.3 .463 .400 .713 1.80 2.50 4.30 .9 .60 .12 1.46 2.20 8.2  Bo Outlaw 31 22 27.5 .545 .000 .432 1.70 3.60 5.40 1.8 1.29 1.39 1.87 2.50 6.5  Michael Doleac 49 0 15.9 .468 .000 .675 1.30 1.70 3.00 .4 .39 .35 .53 2.40 6.2  Derek Strong 44 0 15.8 .422 .000 .717 1.50 2.20 3.70 .4 .34 .16 .84 1.50 5.1  Dominique Wilkins 27 2 9.3 .379 .263 .690 1.10 1.50 2.60 .6 .15 .04 .85 .70 5.0  B.J. Armstrong 22 0 8.2 .422 .143 .818 .00 1.00 1.00 1.5 .41 .00 .68 .70 2.2  B.J. Armstrong (TOT) 32 1 11.2 .455 .467 .857 .10 1.20 1.20 1.9 .38 .00 .78 1.00 3.3  Danny Schayes 19 1 7.5 .379 .000 .750 .20 .60 .70 .2 .05 .11 .42 1.20 1.5  Kevin Ollie 1 0 4.0 .000 .000 .500 .00 1.00 1.00 .0 .00 .00 .00 1.00 1.0  Kevin Ollie (TOT) 8 0 9.0 .286 .000 .714 .00 .90 .90 .4 .38 .13 .38 1.10 1.6  Gerald Wilkins 3 0 9.3 .000 .000 1.000 .00 .30 .30 .3 .00 .00 1.00 1.00 .7  Miles Simon 5 0 3.8 .200 .000 .000 .20 .20 .40 .0 .20 .00 .60 .20 .4  Jonathan Kerner 1 0 5.0 .000 .000 .000 .00 .00 .00 .0 .00 .00 .00 2.00 .0 Team Averages 50 0 241.0 .428 .330 .700 13.8 28.9 42.7 21.3 9.9 4.3 16.4 18.7 89.5 Opponents 50 0 241.0 .443 .345 .707 11.9 28.5 40.4 20.8 9.4 4.8 17.3 22.2 86.9 created: 10/04/2004,11:31 AM

PLAYER TOTALS               REBOUNDS    Player G GS MIN FGM-A 3PM-A FTM-A OFF DEF TOT AST STL BLK TO PF PTS  Anfernee Hardaway 50 50 1,944 301-717 40-140 149-211 74 210 284 266 111 23 150 111 791  Nick Anderson 47 39 1,581 253-640 96-277 99-162 51 226 277 91 64 15 83 72 701  Darrell Armstrong 50 15 1,502 230-522 69-189 161-178 53 127 180 335 108 4 158 90 690  Isaac Austin 49 49 1,259 185-453 2-7 105-157 83 154 237 89 47 35 114 125 477  Horace Grant 50 50 1,660 198-456 0-2 47-70 117 234 351 90 46 60 44 99 443  Matt Harpring 50 22 1,114 148-320 10-25 102-143 88 126 214 45 30 6 73 112 408  Michael Doleac 49 0 780 125-267 0-0 54-80 66 82 148 20 19 17 26 117 304  Derek Strong 44 0 695 76-180 0-2 71-99 66 95 161 17 15 7 37 64 223  Bo Outlaw 31 22 851 84-154 0-3 35-81 54 113 167 56 40 43 58 79 203  Dominique Wilkins 27 2 252 50-132 5-19 29-42 30 41 71 16 4 1 23 19 134  B.J. Armstrong 22 0 180 19-45 1-7 9-11 1 22 23 34 9 0 15 15 48  B.J. Armstrong (TOT) 32 1 358 40-88 7-15 18-21 2 37 39 61 12 0 25 31 105  Danny Schayes 19 1 143 11-29 0-0 6-8 3 11 14 4 1 2 8 23 28  Miles Simon 5 0 19 1-5 0-2 0-0 1 1 2 0 1 0 3 1 2  Gerald Wilkins 3 0 28 0-9 0-0 2-2 0 1 1 1 0 0 3 3 2  Kevin Ollie 1 0 4 0-1 0-0 1-2 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 1  Kevin Ollie (TOT) 8 0 72 4-14 0-0 5-7 0 7 7 3 3 1 3 9 13  Jonathan Kerner 1 0 5 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 Team Totals 50 0 12,050 1,687-3,943 223-675 876-1,252 688 1,445 2,133 1,067 496 213 819 935 4,473 Opponents 50 0 -- 1,708-3,856 230-667 697-986 595 1,424 2,019 1,039 468 239 863 1,111 4,343 created: 10/04/2004,11:31 AM