Even with the acquisition of veteran free agents Tyronn Lue and Juwan Howard, the Magic struggled early.

Despite winning the first 2 games against Croatia ( 1 – 0 ) and Australia ( 2 – 0 ), the " Magic Square " didn't seem to work as expected and struggled to beat the opponents ' defense.

Like most expansion franchises, the Magic struggled for several seasons, and as a result were awarded high draft picks in several consecutive years, including Dennis Scott in 1990, Shaquille O ' Neal in 1992, and Chris Webber, who was traded for a package including Penny Hardaway in 1993.

Penny Hardaway and Darrell Armstrong led the Magic to win Games 3 and 4, extending the series to the decisive 5th game.

With the combination of O ' Neal and Hardaway, the Magic became a dominant team in the NBA, compiling the first 50 win season in franchise history with a 50 – 32 record.

However, after taking a 3 – 1 lead in the best-of-seven first round series, the Magic fell to the Detroit Pistons 4 – 3 in the now infamous heartbreaker in which McGrady was quoted " It's nice to finally be in the second round " after still needing one more win to advance.

The Magic were able to win Game 3, with the Pistons ' Chauncey Billups out for most of the game with an injury, but were unable to take advantage of his absence and defeat the Pistons in Games 4 and 5, which ended the Magic's playoff run in 2008.

In the playoffs, the Magic beat the Philadelphia 76ers in the first round of the playoffs and then the defending champions, the Boston Celtics, in the Eastern Conference semifinals, behind assistant coach Patrick Ewing's guarantee that they would win Game 7 of that series.

But the Magic went on to win three straight to eliminate the Sixers from the playoffs.

They stormed past Shaquille O ' Neal and the Orlando Magic in a first-round sweep to earn their first NBA playoff series win, and pulled off an upset by defeating the top-seeded Atlanta Hawks in the Conference Semifinals.

On May 8, 2012, the Pacers defeated the Orlando Magic 105-87 to win their first playoff series since 2005 and would go on to play the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Semifinals.

Tim Duncan was named Finals MVP, becoming only the fourth player to win the MVP award three times ( joining Magic Johnson, Shaquille O ' Neal, and Michael Jordan ).

While having a steady season without making any real ground in the playoff race, the Warriors were breaking franchise records with 21 made 3's in a win against Orlando Magic.

" Duncan won his third NBA Finals MVP Award, joining Michael Jordan, Shaquille O ' Neal, and Magic Johnson as the only players in NBA history to win it three times.

** Houston Rockets win 4 games to 0 over the Orlando Magic

In 1979, Earvin " Magic " Johnson, along with Greg Kelser, Jay Vincent and Mike Brkovich, led the MSU team to a 75 – 64 win against the Larry Bird-led Indiana State Sycamores.

He helped them win another championship in 2000 – 01, but in the offseason decided to leave Los Angeles and sign back with the Magic.

He edged Shaquille O ' Neal to win the NBA MVP award, becoming the first Canadian to earn the honour, as well as the third point guard ever to be named MVP, along with Magic Johnson and Bob Cousy.

A two-time NBA MVP, Nash is only the second point guard ( along with Magic Johnson ) to win the MVP award multiple times and the third guard in NBA history to earn back-to-back MVPs ( joining Johnson and Michael Jordan ).

Following the 1992 Summer Olympics in which Malone helped the American national team, dubbed the " Dream Team ", win a gold medal, Malone expressed opposition to Magic Johnson, who had recently tested positive for HIV and retired from the NBA in 1991, making a comeback to the league.

In 1983, Michael competed with magicians from 30 countries to win the " Gold Medal in Sleight-of-Hand Magic " at Lausanne, Switzerland.

In Game 4, Magic Johnson hit a sky-hook with two seconds left to give the Lakers a 107 – 106 win and a 3 – 1 series lead.

' Magic ' ( Senna's nickname during the wet ) shone that day to give him another win despite engine troubles that also befell Prost with Mansell in third saying that problems like that he could certainly use-he finished less than two seconds behind Senna.

* Cards that only have a specific effect if you win a short subgame, such as a staring contest, arm wrestling, rock / paper / scissors, or even another game of Magic within the original game ( see Shahrazad and, which is a parody of Shahrazad ).

Horry went on to be a key member of the Rockets ' title teams and began to lay the foundations for his " Big Shot Rob " reputation with a game-winning jumper in the final seconds of Game 1 of the 1995 Western Conference Finals vs. the San Antonio Spurs and adding a crucial basket in a 106-103 win in Game 3 of the NBA Finals against the Orlando Magic.

During the 2010-2011 season, the Indiana Pacers advanced to the NBA playoffs for the first time since 2006 thanks to an end of the season win over the Washington Wizards coupled with a Charlotte Bobcats loss to the Orlando Magic.

The card game shares some similarities with Magic: The Gathering but has its own unique game mechanics and flavor, providing " passive " win conditions like the Enlightenment Victory, as well as a version of Magic's goal of destroying the opponent.

In response to collectible card games ' popularity after the emergence of Magic: The Gathering, Chaosium released the now discontinued Mythos CCG.

In other forms, gambling can be conducted with materials which have a value, but aren't real money ; for example, games like Pogs or Magic: The Gathering.

* Might and Magic, a series of computer role-playing games

Might and Magic ( MM ) is a series of role-playing video games from New World Computing, which in 1996 became a subsidiary of The 3DO Company.

Might and Magic is considered one of the defining examples of early PC role-playing games, along with the Bard's Tale, Ultima and Wizardry series.

The rights to the Might and Magic name were purchased for USD 1. 3 million by Ubisoft, who " rebooted " the franchise with a new series with no apparent connection to the previous continuity, starting with the games Heroes of Might and Magic V and Dark Messiah of Might and Magic.

* Might and Magic Trilogy ( 1993 ), includes Might and Magic games III, IV, V, and the fanmade Swords of Xeen.

* Might and Magic I, II, III, IV, V: Collection Classique ( 1998 ), contains the games I-V

* Ultimate Might and Magic Archives ( 1998 ), includes the first five Might and Magic games, World of Xeen and the fanmade Swords of Xeen.

* Might and Magic VI: The Mandate of Heaven-Limited Edition ( 1998 ), a collector's edition of Might and Magic VI that included the first five games on CD-ROM as well.

* Might and Magic VI: The Mandate of Heaven-Special Edition ( 1998 ), included Might and Magic games I, II, III, IV, V and the fanmade Swords of Xeen as well.

* Might and Magic Sixpack ( 1998 ), includes the first six Might and Magic games.

* Might and Magic Millennium Edition ( 1999 ), includes the Might and Magic games IV, V, VI and VII.

* Might and Magic ( Platinum Edition ) ( 2002 ), includes the Might and Magic games VI, VII, VIII and IX.

In the earlier games the interface is very similar to that of Bard's Tale, but from Might and Magic VI: The Mandate of Heaven onward, the interface features a scrolling three-dimensional environment similar to that of Doom.

The game worlds in all of the Might and Magic games are quite large, and a player can expect each game to provide several dozen hours of gameplay.