1994–95 Houston Rockets season

The 1994–95 Houston Rockets season was the 28th season for the franchise in the National Basketball Association, and their 24th season in Houston, Texas.^[1] The Rockets entered the regular season as defending NBA champions, having defeated the New York Knicks in seven games in the 1994 NBA Finals, and winning their first ever NBA championship. During the off-season, the team signed free agent Pete Chilcutt.

The Rockets got off to a fast start by winning their first nine games of the regular season, but started to slow down as the team lost 9 of their next 14 games afterwards. The Rockets then posted a six-game winning streak between December and January, leading to a 20–9 start to the season. However, the team then lost six of their next ten games, and later on held a 29–17 record at the All-Star break.^[2]

On February 14, 1995, the Rockets traded Otis Thorpe to the Portland Trail Blazers in exchange for All-Star guard Clyde Drexler, and three-point specialist Tracy Murray; Drexler and Hakeem Olajuwon were both teammates at the University of Houston in the early 1980s.^[3][4][5] The team also signed free agent Chucky Brown midway through the season,^[6][7] and later on signed 38-year old veteran Charles Jones to a 10-day contract in April, where he played in the final three games of the regular season.^[8][9] However, despite the addition of Drexler, the Rockets played .500 in winning percentage for the remainder of the season, posting an 18–18 record on their way to finishing in third place in the Midwest Division with a 47–35 record, and earning the sixth seed in the Western Conference.^[10]

Olajuwon averaged 27.8 points, 10.8 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 1.8 steals and 3.4 blocks per game, while Drexler averaged 21.4 points, 7.0 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 1.7 steals per game in 35 games after the trade; Olajuwon and Drexler were both named to the All-NBA Third Team. In addition, Vernon Maxwell provided the team with 13.3 points per game, and led them with 143 three-point field goals, while Kenny Smith contributed 10.4 points per game and 142 three-point field goals, and Robert Horry averaged 10.2 points per game. Off the bench, second-year guard Sam Cassell provided with 9.5 points and 4.9 assists per game, while Mario Elie contributed 8.8 points per game, Carl Herrera averaged 6.8 points and 4.6 rebounds per game, and Chilcutt provided with 5.3 points and 4.7 rebounds per game.^[11]

During the NBA All-Star weekend at the America West Arena in Phoenix, Arizona, Olajuwon was selected for the 1995 NBA All-Star Game, as a member of the Western Conference All-Star team.^[12][13][14] Olajuwon finished in fifth place in Most Valuable Player voting, while Drexler finished in 14th place;^[15][16] Olajuwon also finished in third place in Defensive Player of the Year voting.^[17][16] According to Horry, when All-Star center David Robinson of the San Antonio Spurs was given his NBA Most Valuable Player of the Year award, before a game in the Western Conference Finals between the Spurs and Rockets, Olajuwon got upset and claimed that Robinson won "his" trophy; Olajuwon won the MVP award the previous season.^[18][19]

In the Western Conference First Round of the 1995 NBA playoffs, and for the second consecutive year, the Rockets faced off against the 3rd–seeded Utah Jazz, who were led by the trio of All-Star forward Karl Malone, All-Star guard John Stockton, and Jeff Hornacek. With the series tied at 1–1, the Rockets lost Game 3 to the Jazz at home, 95–82 at The Summit as the Jazz took a 2–1 series lead.^[20][21][22] However, the Rockets managed to win the next two games, which included a Game 5 win over the Jazz on the road, 95–91 at the Delta Center to win in a hard-fought five-game series.^[23][24][25]

In the Western Conference Semi-finals, and also for the second consecutive year, the team faced off against the 2nd–seeded, and Pacific Division champion Phoenix Suns, who were led by the All-Star trio of Charles Barkley, Kevin Johnson, and three-point specialist Dan Majerle. The Rockets lost the first two games to the Suns on the road at the America West Arena, before winning Game 3 at home, 118–85 at The Summit, but then lost Game 4 at home, 114–110 as the Suns took a 3–1 series lead.^[26][27][28] However, the Rockets managed to win the next three games, including a Game 7 win over the Suns at the America West Arena, 115–114 to win in a hard-fought seven-game series, and advance to the Western Conference Finals.^[29][30][31]

In the "All-Texas Western Conference Finals", the Rockets then faced off against the top–seeded, and Midwest Division champion Spurs, who were led by the trio of Robinson, Sean Elliott, and rebound-specialist Dennis Rodman. Both teams lacked home-court advantage in the series, as the Rockets won the first two games over the Spurs on the road at the Alamodome, and then lost their next two home games at The Summit, before winning Game 5 over the Spurs at the Alamodome, 111–90. The road team won every game in the series until the Rockets won Game 6 over the Spurs at home, 100–95 at The Summit to win the series in six games, and advance to the NBA Finals for the second consecutive year.^[32][33][34]

In the 1995 NBA Finals, the Rockets faced off against the top–seeded Orlando Magic, who were led by the All-Star trio of Shaquille O'Neal, second-year star Penny Hardaway, and Horace Grant. The Rockets won Game 1 over the Magic on the road in overtime, 120–118 at the Orlando Arena, and then won Game 2 on the road, 117–106 to take a 2–0 series lead. The Rockets won the next two games at home, including a Game 4 win over the Magic at The Summit, 113–101 to win the series in a four-game sweep, and winning their second consecutive NBA championship, as Olajuwon was named the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player for the second straight year.^[35][36][37] As the 6th seed in the 1995 playoffs, the 1994–95 Rockets to date are the lowest seeded team in league history to win an NBA championship.^[38]

The Rockets finished 17th in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 653,389 at The Summit during the regular season.^[11][39] Following the season, Maxwell signed as a free agent with the Philadelphia 76ers.^[40][41][42] Maxwell had a controversial season; one notable incident occurred on February 6, 1995, during a road game against the Trail Blazers at the Memorial Coliseum, in which Maxwell punched a fan and was suspended for ten games; the Rockets lost to the Trail Blazers, 120–82.^[43][44][45] Maxwell also left the Rockets during the NBA playoffs after being replaced with Drexler as the team's starting shooting guard.^[46][47]

Also following the season, Murray signed with the Toronto Raptors expansion team,^[48][49] Herrera signed with the San Antonio Spurs,^[50][51] and Croatian rookie center Žan Tabak was left unprotected in the 1995 NBA expansion draft, where he was selected by the Raptors.^[52][53][54]