The Heat–Magic rivalry is an

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

(NBA)

rivalry A rivalry is the state of two people or groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each participant ...

between the

Miami Heat The Miami Heat are an American professional basketball team based in Miami. The Heat compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern C ...

and the

Orlando Magic The Orlando Magic are an American professional basketball team based in Orlando, Florida. The Magic compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NB ...

. It is also known as the Sunshine State rivalry since both the Heat and the Magic are based in the state of

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

, similar to the

Lakers–Clippers rivalry The Lakers–Clippers rivalry is a National Basketball Association (NBA) rivalry between the Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers. The two Pacific Division teams both play their home games in the Greater Los Angeles area, thus inspirin ...

Background

The rivalry started when two teams were expanded into the NBA, both being from Florida which made it a battle for basketball supremacy statewide. Orlando became the first team in Florida to reach the Finals which they did in 1995. Miami quickly followed with a strong team of its own after

Shaquille O'Neal Shaquille Rashaun O'Neal ( ; born March 6, 1972), commonly known as Shaq ( ), is an American former professional basketball player who is a sports analyst on the television program ''Inside the NBA''. He is a and Center (basketball), center ...

left Orlando in 1996.

1997 Playoffs

The NBA playoffs saw a single encounter between two teams: the

(2nd seed, 61–21) and the

(7th seed, 45–37) during the 1997 Eastern Conference First Round. This matchup, taking place in the inaugural season after O'Neal's departure from Orlando, positioned Miami as the frontrunners for the series victory. The initial two games unfolded at

Miami Arena Miami Arena was an indoor arena located in Miami, Florida. The venue served as the home of the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the Florida Panthers of the National Hockey League (NHL). From 1988 until 1999, it also ...

, where the Heat convincingly secured victories. In Game 1, Heat center

Alonzo Mourning Alonzo Harding Mourning Jr. (born February 8, 1970) is an American former professional basketball player who has served as vice president of player programs and development for the Miami Heat since June 2009. Mourning played most of his 15-year ...

showcased an impressive performance with six blocks, equalling the second-highest block count by any player in a game throughout the 1997 playoffs. Adding to the prowess,

Voshon Lenard Voshon Kelan Lenard (born May 14, 1973) is an American former professional basketball player who played 11 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was listed as and 215 lbs, and was born in Detroit, Michigan. College care ...

made a significant impact by scoring 24 points, including six three-pointers. The game resulted in a dominant 35-point victory for Miami, marking the second-largest point differential in a win by any team during the 1997 playoffs. Furthermore, this achievement is tied for the second-largest point differential in a playoff game in the history of Miami's franchise. Game 2 was a closer contest but Miami ended up with a 17-point victory. Heat guard

Tim Hardaway Timothy Duane Hardaway Sr. (born September 1, 1966) is an American former professional basketball player. Hardaway played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Golden State Warriors, Miami Heat, Dallas Mavericks, Denver Nuggets a ...

dropped 20 points and 11 assists in the victory. The following game took place in

Orlando Arena Amway Arena (originally known as Orlando Arena and later TD Waterhouse Centre) was an indoor arena located in Orlando, Florida. It was part of the Orlando Centroplex, a sports and entertainment complex located in Downtown Orlando. The arena wa ...

, where Miami had the opportunity to win the third game of the 5-game series and advancing to the Eastern Conference Semifinals. Around halfway into the 2nd quarter of Game 3, Miami had taken a 20-point lead leading Orlando 39–19. However, Magic guard

Penny Hardaway Anfernee Deon "Penny" Hardaway (born July 18, 1971) is an American college basketball coach and former professional player who is the head coach of the Memphis Tigers men's team in the American Athletic Conference (AAC). Hardaway played colle ...

recorded an impressive 42 points and 8 rebounds to help Orlando comeback and secure a victory in Game 3. Hardaway's 42 points is tied for the 5th most points in a playoff game by an Orlando Magic player in franchise history. His 16 field goals is tied for the 2nd most field goals in a playoff game by an Orlando Magic player in franchise history. Darrell Armstrong also had 21 points and 8 assists of his own off the bench. This win lead to the necessity of a Game 4, which was also held in Orlando. Miami came into Game 4 looking to move on to the Conference Semifinals while Orlando was looking to even the series and force a Game 5 back in Miami. Penny Hardaway dropped 18 points in the first quarter alone and finished the game with 41 points and 4 steals. He hit three free throws in the final two minutes and helped the Magic stunningly force a Game 5. Penny Hardaway became one of just two Orlando players to score 40 points in consecutive playoff games, alongside

Tracy McGrady Tracy Lamar McGrady Jr. (born May 24, 1979), nicknamed T-Mac, is an American former professional basketball player, best known for his career in the National Basketball Association (NBA). McGrady is a seven-time NBA All-Star, seven-time All-N ...

. Even with all this, Miami was the better team and prevailed in the decisive fifth game with two huge buckets from Tim Hardaway in the fourth quarter. Miami would eventually make the Eastern Conference Finals that year until they were defeated by the eventual champion

Chicago Bulls The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division of the Eastern Conference. The team was founded on January 16 ...

2010–2012: Arrival of LeBron James

In the 2010 off season, the Miami Heat made headlines nearly every day after it was announced that

LeBron James LeBron Raymone James Sr. ( ; born December 30, 1984) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "King James", he is the NBA's all-time leading scorer and ...

would sign with the team as a free agent. Other teams in the NBA felt slighted and overwhelmed by the amount of coverage the Heat were given. Magic head coach

Stan Van Gundy Stanley Alan Van Gundy (born August 26, 1959) is an American former basketball coach who is a television commentator for ''NBA on TNT'' and '' College Basketball on CBS''. Prior to TNT, he was most recently the head coach for the New Orleans Peli ...

was one of the people that noticed the "extra" coverage the Heat had received. Earlier in the year of 2010 at a press conference, Van Gundy stated: "I'm surprised there was enough media left for you guys to get here. ESPN is all Heat, all the time." The players got involved as well.

Marcin Gortat Marcin Janusz Gortat (; born February 17, 1984) also known as "The Polish Hammer" is a Polish former professional basketball player, and current player development and assistant coach at the Washington Wizards of the National Basketball Associat ...

said "Honestly, I'm sick of listening every hour about Miami—Miami that, how great they are, how big they are, what kind of record they gonna have."

Dwight Howard Dwight David Howard II (born December 8, 1985) is an American former professional basketball player. Nicknamed "Superman" for his athletic prowess, he is an NBA champion, eight-time All-Star, eight-time All-NBA Team honoree, five-time All-Defen ...

chimed in by simply stating "We're trying to take their heads off." Even upper management got involved in the verbal feud. Otis Smith, the president of basketball operations for the Orlando Magic was discussing LeBron going to Miami and had this to say: "I was surprised that he went. I thought he was, I guess, more of a competitor." Eventually LeBron responded to this comment regarding his competitiveness. "Orlando, that's funny that they questioned my competitiveness. I like that. The locker room—we're going to put a lot of stuff in the locker room...We'll deal with them later."

2012-present: Rivalry Cools Down

After the departure of Dwight Howard from the Magic in 2012, the rivalry has softened but still remains heated amongst the organizations and its fans. Orlando had a 6-year playoff drought from 2012–13 to 2017–18, while Miami made the playoffs four times in that stretch. Within that stretch, the Heat won 17 games against Orlando, while Orlando won 7 games against Miami. On March 6, 2013, LeBron James hit a left-handed game-winning layup with 3.2 seconds remaining to give Miami the win at home against Orlando. Orlando had a chance to break Miami's 15-game winning streak. That winning streak would eventually blossom to 27, which is the 3rd highest in NBA history. On March 26, 2019, the two teams squared off in the

American Airlines Arena Kaseya Center is a multi-purpose arena on Biscayne Bay in Miami, Florida. The arena is home to the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association. The arena was previously named American Airlines Arena from opening in 1999 until 2021, FTX ...

in a matchup that was crucial for both teams to win for playoff implications. Coincidentally it was also the day the Miami Heat honored big-man

Chris Bosh Christopher Wesson Bosh (born March 24, 1984) is an American former professional basketball player. A Texas Mr. Basketball in high school, he played one season of college basketball for Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets men's basketball, Georgia Tech ...

by retiring his #1 jersey, which occurred during the half-time period. The ceremony to commemorate Bosh took thirty-six minutes. Orlando took advantage of the situation and started the 3rd quarter on a 27–15 run and ended up winning the game 104–99. Orlando moved to 37–38 on the season, while Miami's loss made them 36–38. Orlando would go on to grab the 7th seed in the Eastern Conference whilst Miami would miss the playoffs for the fourth time in 16 seasons. Additionally, it was also the first time the Magic won more games in a season than Miami since the

2009–10 NBA season The 2009–10 NBA season was the 64th season of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The 1,230-game regular season (82 games for each of the 30 teams) began on October 27, 2009, and ended on April 14, 2010. The season ended with the Los Ang ...

. In the

2020 NBA All-Star Game The 2020 NBA All-Star Game was an Exhibition game, exhibition basketball game that was played on February 16, 2020, during the National Basketball Association's (NBA) 2019–20 NBA season, 2019–20 season. It was the 69th edition of the NBA All- ...

, Derrick Jones Jr. of the Heat and

Aaron Gordon Aaron Addison Gordon (born September 16, 1995) is an American professional basketball player for the Denver Nuggets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Born in San Jose, California, Gordon attended Archbishop Mitty High School where h ...

of the Magic competed against each other in the final round of the Slam Dunk Contest. Gordon became the first player in the history of the competition to receive five consecutive perfect scores and yet still lost to Jones Jr. due to a score of 47 on his final dunk attempt over Tacko Fall. Gordon told reporters after that he wouldn't do the competition again because he felt as if he was deserving of two trophies, "It's a wrap. I feel like I should have two trophies.". Gordon was referring to his dunk contest battle against

Zach LaVine Zachary Thomas LaVine ( ; born March 10, 1995) is an American professional basketball player for the Sacramento Kings of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was selected in the first round of the 2014 NBA draft with the 13th overall p ...

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

. The three celebrity judges who gave Gordon a score of 9 were

Chadwick Boseman Chadwick Aaron Boseman (; November 29, 1976August 28, 2020) was an American actor. Through his two-decade career, he appeared in a number of projects spanning both blockbuster and independent films, and received various accolades, including ...

Scottie Pippen Scotty Maurice Pippen Sr. (born September 25, 1965), usually spelled Scottie Pippen, is an American former professional basketball player. He played 17 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA), winning six NBA championships with th ...

, and former Heat player,

Dwyane Wade Dwyane Tyrone Wade Jr. ( or , born January 17, 1982) is an American former professional basketball player who is currently the co-owner of the Utah Jazz of the National Basketball Association. He is also currently the host of the American a ...

. This sparked a lot of controversy in social media and the internet, considering Wade played alongside Jones Jr. the season prior, and due to the in-state rivalry. On January 12, 2024, Heat big-man

Bam Adebayo Edrice Femi "Bam" Adebayo ( ; born July 18, 1997) is an American professional basketball player for the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Kentucky Wildcats before being selected by the ...

hit a go-ahead jumper against the Magic with 18.5 seconds remaining over Magic big-man Moritz Wagner. Miami would end up winning the game 99–96. On December 21, 2024, the two teams met at the

Kia Center Kia Center (formerly Amway Center) is an indoor arena located in the downtown core of Orlando, Florida. The arena is home to the Orlando Magic of the National Basketball Association (NBA), the Orlando Solar Bears of the ECHL, and the Orlando Pr ...

. Orlando played without their top three scorers:

Paolo Banchero Paolo Napoleon James Banchero ( ; ; born November 12, 2002) is an American professional basketball player for the Orlando Magic of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Duke Blue Devils men's basketbal ...

Franz Wagner Franz Jacob Wagner (born 27 August 2001) is a German professional basketball player for the Orlando Magic of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Michigan Wolverines. Wagner, a native of Berlin, starte ...

, and Jalen Suggs, all sidelined due to injury. Miami was without forward

Jimmy Butler Jimmy Butler III (born September 14, 1989) is an American professional basketball player for the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "Jimmy Buckets", he is a six-time NBA All-Star, a five-time All-NBA Te ...

, who missed the game due to illness. Miami erupted for 40 points in the first quarter and followed that with 36 points in the second, setting a season high for the team with 76 points in the first half. The Heat led by as many as 25 points in the second quarter and were ahead 106-84 at the end of the third quarter. However, a 13-point fourth quarter explosion by Magic guard

Cole Anthony Cole Hilton Anthony (born May 15, 2000) is an American professional basketball player for the Memphis Grizzlies of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the North Carolina Tar Heels. Listed at and , he pla ...

, along with crucial contributions from Goga Bitadze and Trevelin Queen, sparked a comeback. Orlando outscored Miami 37-8 in the fourth quarter to secure a 121-114 victory. The 25-point comeback matched Orlando's largest in franchise history.

Season-by-season results

, - , , style=";" , Heat , style=";" , , style=";" , Heat, , Tie, , style=";" , Heat
, Orlando Magic join the NBA as an expansion team and are placed in the Eastern Conference and the Central Division.
Miami Heat are moved to the Eastern Conference and the Atlantic Division. , - , , Tie , , style=";" , Heat, , style=";" , Magic, , style=";" , Heat
, Magic are temporarily moved to the Western Conference and the Midwest Division. , - , , style=";" , Heat , style=";" , , style=";" , Heat, , Tie, , style=";" , Heat
, Magic move back to the Eastern Conference and are placed in the Atlantic Division, becoming divisional rivals with the Heat. , - , , style=";" , Heat , style=";" , , style=";" , Heat, , style=";" , Magic, , style=";" , Heat
, On April 4, 1993, the Heat beat the Magic 124–106, their most points scored in a game against the Heat that resulted in a win. , - , , style=";" , Magic , style=";" , , style=";" , Magic, , style=";" , Heat, , style=";" , Heat
, Road team sweeps the season series for the first time. , - , , style=";" , Magic , style=";" , , Tie, , style=";" , Magic, , style=";" , Heat
, On November 21, 1994, the Magic beat the Heat 124–89, their largest victory against the Heat with a 35-point differential.
Magic win the Atlantic Division for the first time.
Magic lose

1995 NBA Finals The 1995 NBA Finals was the championship series of the National Basketball Association's (NBA) 1994–95 season, and the conclusion of the season's playoffs. The series pitted the Eastern Conference champion Orlando Magic against the defen ...

. , - , , style=";" , Magic , style=";" , , Tie, , style=";" , Magic, , Tie
, Magic win the Atlantic Division. , - , , Tie , , Tie, , Tie, , Tie
, Heat win the Atlantic Division for the first time. , - style="background:#f2f2f2; font-weight:bold;" , 1997 Eastern Conference First Round , style=";" , Heat , style=";" , , style=";" , Heat, , style=";" , Magic, , style=";" , Heat
, 1st postseason series.
First postseason meeting between two Florida-based professional sports teams. , - , , style=";" , Heat , style=";" , , Tie, , style=";" , Heat, , style=";" , Heat
, Heat win the Atlantic Division. , - , , style=";" , Heat , style=";" , , style=";" , Heat, , Tie, , style=";" , Heat
, Heat win the Atlantic Division. , - , , style=";" , Heat , style=";" , , style=";" , Heat, , Tie, , style=";" , Heat
, Last season Heat played at

. On January 2, 2000, Heat open up and move to

(now known as Kaseya Center).
Heat win the Atlantic Division. , - , - , , style=";" , Heat , style=";" , , Tie, , style=";" , Heat, , style=";" , Heat
, , - , , style=";" , Heat , style=";" , , style=";" , Heat, , Tie, , style=";" , Heat
, , - , , style=";" , Magic , style=";" , , style=";" , Magic, , style=";" , Magic, , style=";" , Heat
, Magic sweep the season series against the Heat for the first time. , - , , style=";" , Heat , style=";" , , style=";" , Heat, , style=";" , Heat, , style=";" , Heat
, Heat sweep the season series against the Magic for the first time. , - , , style=";" , Heat , style=";" , , style=";" , Heat, , style=";" , Heat, , style=";" , Heat
, Heat and Magic are placed in the new Southeast Division.
Heat win the inaugural Southeast Division. , - , , Tie , , Tie, , Tie, , style=";" , Heat
, Heat win the Southeast Division.
Heat win

2006 NBA Finals The 2006 NBA Finals was the championship series of the National Basketball Association's (NBA) 2005–06 season, and the conclusion of the season's playoffs. The Dallas Mavericks were favored to win the championship over the Miami Heat. Despit ...

, their first NBA Championship. , - , , style=";" , Magic , style=";" , , style=";" , Magic, , style=";" , Magic, , style=";" , Heat
, Heat win the Southeast Division. , - , , style=";" , Magic , style=";" , , style=";" , Magic, , style=";" , Magic, , style=";" , Heat
, Magic win their first Southeast Division. , - , , style=";" , Magic , style=";" , , Tie, , style=";" , Magic, , style=";" , Heat
, Magic win 10 games in a row against the Heat.
Magic win the Southeast Division.
Magic lose

2009 NBA Finals The 2009 NBA Finals was the championship series of the National Basketball Association's (NBA) 2008–09 season and the conclusion of the season's playoffs. A best-of-seven playoff series starting on June 4 and concluding on June 14, 2009, ...

. , - , , Tie , , Tie, , Tie, , style=";" , Heat
, Last season Magic played at

Amway Arena Amway Arena (originally known as Orlando Arena and later TD Waterhouse Centre) was an indoor arena located in Orlando, Florida. It was part of the Orlando Centroplex, a sports and entertainment complex located in Downtown Orlando. The arena wa ...

(previously known as Orlando Arena).
Magic win the Southeast Division. , - , - , , Tie , , Tie, , Tie, , style=";" , Heat
, Magic open up

Amway Center Kia Center (formerly Amway Center) is an indoor arena located in the Downtown Orlando, downtown core of Orlando, Florida. The arena is home to the Orlando Magic of the National Basketball Association (NBA), the Orlando Solar Bears of the ECHL, ...

(now known as Kia Center).
Heat win the Southeast Division.
Heat lose

2011 NBA Finals The 2011 NBA Finals was the championship series of the National Basketball Association's (NBA) 2010–11 season, and the conclusion of the season's playoffs. A rematch of the 2006 Finals, the series was contested between the Western Confer ...

. , - , , Tie , , style=";" , Heat, , style=";" , Magic, , style=";" , Heat
, Heat win the Southeast Division.
Heat win

2012 NBA Finals The 2012 NBA Finals was the championship series of the National Basketball Association's (NBA) 2011–12 season, and the conclusion of the season's playoffs. In this best-of-seven series, the Eastern Conference champion Miami Heat defeated t ...

. , - , , style=";" , Heat , style=";" , , style=";" , Heat, , style=";" , Heat, , style=";" , Heat
, Heat win the Southeast Division.
Heat finish with the best record in the league (66–16).
Heat win

2013 NBA Finals The 2013 NBA Finals was the championship series of the National Basketball Association's (NBA) 2012–13 season and conclusion of the season's playoffs, played from June 6 to 20, 2013. In this best-of-seven series, the defending champion and ...

. , - , , style=";" , Heat , style=";" , , style=";" , Heat, , style=";" , Heat, , style=";" , Heat
, On November 20, 2013, the Heat beat the Magic 120–92, their largest victory against the Magic with a 28-point differential.
Heat win the Southeast Division.
Heat lose

2014 NBA Finals The 2014 NBA Finals was the NBA Finals, championship series of the National Basketball Association's (NBA) 2013–14 NBA season, 2013–14 season and the conclusion of 2014 NBA Playoffs, the season's playoffs, played from June 5 to 15, 2014. It ...

. , - , , style=";" , Heat , style=";" , , Tie, , style=";" , Heat, , style=";" , Heat
, Heat win 10 games in a row against the Magic. , - , , style=";" , Heat , style=";" , , style=";" , Heat, , Tie, , style=";" , Heat
, Heat win the Southeast Division. , - , , style=";" , Magic , style=";" , , style=";" , Magic, , Tie, , style=";" , Heat
, On December 20, 2016, the Magic beat the Heat 136–130 in double overtime, their most points scored in a game against the Heat. It was also the most points the Heat scored in a game against the Magic. , - , , Tie , , Tie, , Tie, , style=";" , Heat
, Heat win the Southeast Division. , - , , style=";" , Magic , style=";" , , style=";" , Magic, , Tie, , style=";" , Heat
, Magic win the Southeast Division. , - , , style=";" , Heat , style=";" , , style=";" , Heat, , Tie, , style=";" , Heat
, Heat win the Southeast Division.
Heat lose

2020 NBA Finals The 2020 NBA Finals was the NBA Finals, championship series of the National Basketball Association's (NBA) 2019–20 NBA season, 2019–20 season and conclusion of 2020 NBA playoffs, the season's playoffs. In this best-of-seven playoff series, th ...

. , - , - , , style=";" , Heat , style=";" , , style=";" , Heat, , Tie, , style=";" , Heat
, , - , , style=";" , Heat , style=";" , , style=";" , Heat, , Tie, , style=";" , Heat
, Heat win the Southeast Division. , - , , style=";" , Heat , style=";" , , style=";" , Heat, , Tie, , style=";" , Heat
, Heat win the Southeast Division.
Heat lose

2023 NBA Finals The 2023 NBA Finals was the championship series of the National Basketball Association (NBA)'s 2022–23 NBA season, 2022–23 season and conclusion to 2023 NBA playoffs, the season's playoffs. In the best-of-seven playoff series, the Western Co ...

. , - , , style=";" , Heat , style=";" , , style=";" , Heat, , Tie, , style=";" , Heat
, Magic win the Southeast Division. , - , , Tie , , Tie, , Tie, , style=";" , Heat
, , - , - , - , Regular season games , style=";" , Heat , style=";" , Heat
, style=";" , Heat, , Tie, , , - , Postseason games , style=";" , Heat , style=";" , Heat
, style=";" , Heat, , style=";" , Magic, , , - , Postseason series , style=";" , Heat , style=";" , , style=";" , Heat, , N/A , Eastern Conference First Round:

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

, - , Regular and postseason , style=";" , Heat , style=";" , Heat
, style=";" , Heat, , style=";" , Magic, , , -

References