This NBA Tuesday miniseries journeys south now to the land of Disney in Orlando, where the Magic have been playing since starting as an expansion franchise in the 1989-1990 season. In 34 seasons now, the team has made the postseason 16 times, which isn’t great. The Magic have not won an NBA title, either, but they did compete in the Finals twice (1995, 2009). Both those teams appear belowin addition to three others, which may or may not surprise you. Enjoy the read!

No. 5: 2010-11 Orlando Magic

With a 52-30 record, this team finished second in the Southeast Division. The strength of the team was the defense, which finished fourth in the NBA. Even with the No. 16 offense, the Magic ended up fifth in the overall SRS ratings. However, the postseason was not kind to Orlando this time around, as the Atlanta Hawks upset the Magic in six games, stealing home-court advantage in Game 1 and never letting it go. Orlando lost Game 6 on the road by just 3 points, too.

This was a deep roster, led by center Dwight Howard (16.6 Win Shares). Six other players posted between 4.5 and 6.6 WS to support him. In four of the six postseason games, Superman led all players in both points and rebounds. But his supporting cast didn’t really show up effectively enough against the Hawks. Only two other players scored in double digits for the Magic against Atlanta, and the Hawks won their three home games by a combined 10 points. Ouch!

No. 4: 1995-96 Orlando Magic

The winningest team in franchise history, this Magic squad posted a 60-22 record to win the Atlantic Division. Overall, Orlando was No. 5 in the SRS ratings, built on the No. 3 offense and the No. 14 defense. However, in trying to return to the Finals, the Magic ran into a dynasty: the Chicago Bulls. Orlando dispatched the Detroit Pistons and the Atlanta Hawks in the first two rounds with ease, dropping just one game combined, but the Bulls swept the Magic right out of the playoffs.

The starting five was strong: point guard Penny Hardaway (14.4 WS), small forward Dennis Scott (8.8), power forward Horace Grant (8.0), shooting guard Nick Anderson (7.4), and C Shaquille O’Neal (6.9), who missed 28 games due to injury. But there was no depth, and Chicago took advantage of this, outscoring Orlando by 16.7 ppg in a dominant display. However, it may have been quite personal for Michael Jordan, too, due to the 1995 postseason (see below).

No. 3: 1994-95 Orlando Magic

Orlando won the Atlantic with a 57-25 record, and the team managed a No. 3 rating in the overall SRS rankings—with the No. 1 offense (and the No. 19 defense). Each round of the postseason was successively more difficult for the Magic, too: Orlando lost once in the first round to Boston, twice in the second round to the Bulls, and three times in the Eastern Conference Finals to Indiana. But in the Finals, the Magic just choked against the defending champion Houston Rockets.

O’Neal (14.0 WS), Hardaway (10.7), Grant (9.5), and Scott (8.3) were the dominant players on this team, with the bench once again being pretty thin, overall, although slightly stronger than the year afterward. The famous sequence at the end of regulation in Game 1 of the Finals, though, may have cost Orlando an NBA title: Anderson missed four straight free throws with less than 10 seconds left and the Magic up by 3 points. The team never recovered from that debacle, obviously.

No. 2: 2008-09 Orlando Magic

A first-place finish in the Southeast Division with a 59-23 record led to a No. 4 finish in the overall SRS rankings. With the No. 10 offense and the No. 6 defense, the Magic were a solid contender for the title. But Orlando struggled too much in the Eastern Conference playoffs, needing 19 games to beat Philadelphia, Boston, and Cleveland on its way to the Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers. With little left in the tank, the Lakers outscored the Magic by 9.4 ppg in a 5-game series.

Howard (13.8 WS) again led the way, but he was supported solidly by PF Rashard Lewis (9.5), SF Hedo Türkoğlu (7.3), and PG Jameer Nelson (6.0). Seven other players posted between 2.3 and 4.4 WS as well. In the Finals, though, the Lakers won Game 1 by 25 points, and Orlando couldn’t overcome that mental roadblock. The NBA also was deadset on anointing Kobe Bryant for some reason, and so the Magic was up against more than just a traditional opponent here.

No. 1: 2009-10 Orlando Magic

The best sabermetric team in franchise history won 59 games to with the Southeast Division (again), and it finished first in the overall SRS rankings, too. The Magic had the No. 6 offense and the No. 4 defense, but the appeal of a Boston-Los Angeles matchup in the Finals was tough for little Orlando to conquer. The Magic swept the Charlotte Bobcats and the Atlanta Hawks in the first two rounds of the postseason, but the Celtic emerged from the ECF matchup in six games.

The team used only 12 players all season, led by Howard (13.2 WS) and SG Vince Carter (7.4). Orlando outscored Charlotte by 9.3 ppg in the first round, while the Magic outdid the Hawks by a whopping 25.3 ppg in the second round. So, how did this team then lose to Boston? The Celtics won the first two games on the road by a combined 7 points, and Boston then took Game 3 at home by 23 points. That’s how. Orlando saved a little face, but … this was the NBA, after all.