The memories faded with each postseason victory, only to be revived when Orlando found out the road to the NBA Finals will go through Indianapolis instead of New York.
The Indiana Pacers swept the Magic in the opening round of the playoffs a year ago, lighting a fire under the young team that's still burning.Management addressed weaknesses exposed in that series by signing free agents Horace Grant and Brian Shaw last summer, and Shaquille O'Neal & Co. returned this season determined to redeem themselves.
But when the Eastern Conference final begins tonight against the Pacers, Anfernee Hardaway insists revenge will not a motivation for him or his teammates.
"Indiana did what it had to do to us last year and we really can't worry what happened. . . . We have a different team, different guys and a different outlook about the season," the all-star guard said.
"You're going to remember. How can you not remember?" Hardaway added. "But at the same time, we can't look back. We're too close to where we want to be."
Indiana coach Larry Brown finds it amusing when people suggest that beating Boston, and then Chicago in the playoffs has given the youthful Magic the confidence it needs to compete against the more-experienced Pacers.
Orlando, after all, won 57 games, had the NBA's best record at home (39-2) and this season became the first of the most recent expansion teams to win a division title.
"I think getting confidence, on that team, is a joke," Brown said. "They won the conference. They had the best record. I don't think they need any confidence."
Skeptics, however, still have doubts about the Magic. They argue that teams just don't go from being swept in the opening round of the playoffs to being a championship contender in one year.
That's why beating the Pacers would be especially sweet for Orlando.
"Last year we set our goals on getting to the playoffs, and once we made the playoffs we kind of backed off," said O'Neal. "We should be happy, but no one should be content on making the conference finals. I want to make it to the top."
O'Neal's matchup against Indiana's Rik Smits, who held his own against the NBA scoring champion in four regular-season meetings (averaging 20.3 points and nine rebounds to O'Neal's 20.8 and 11), will be one of the keys to the best-of-7 series.
Another will be the Pacers' Reggie Miller against Orlando's Nick Anderson, whose defense on Michael Jordan is one of the reasons the Magic are in the conference final for the first time.
"You have to play him like Jordan. You have to make him work on both ends of the floor," said Anderson. "You can't let him stand around on defense and rest. You have to make him work."
Indiana, which lost to New York in the conference finals a year ago, enters the series brimming with confidence, too, after winning Game 7 of their semifinal with the Knicks on Sunday.
However, Miller said the team will be in trouble if it's counting on last year's sweep of Orlando to give it the mental edge in this series.
"That was last year, this is this year," he said. "Everything is different. Last year we lost to the Knicks, this year we won."