1996–97 Houston Rockets season

The 1996–97 Houston Rockets season was the 30th season for the Houston Rockets in the National Basketball Association, and their 26th season in Houston, Texas.^[1] During the off-season, the Rockets acquired All-Star forward Charles Barkley from the Phoenix Suns,^[2][3][4] and signed free agents Kevin Willis,^[5][6][7] Brent Price,^[8][9] undrafted rookie point guard Matt Maloney,^[10] and re-signed former Rockets forward and three-point specialist Matt Bullard, who was a member of the championship team from the 1994 NBA Finals.

With the addition of Barkley, Willis and Maloney, the Rockets won their first six games of the regular season. The team posted a nine-game winning streak between November and December, and posted another six-game winning streak in December, leading to a 21–2 start to the season. However, the Rockets later on struggled posting a six-game losing streak between January and February, and held a 32–16 record at the All-Star break.^[11] At mid-season, the team signed free agents Eddie Johnson and Sedale Threatt.^[12][13] The Rockets posted another six-game winning streak in March, won 14 of their final 17 games of the season, and finished in second place in the Midwest Division with a 57–25 record, earning the third seed in the Western Conference; the team qualified for the NBA playoffs for the fifth consecutive year.^[14]

Hakeem Olajuwon averaged 23.2 points, 9.2 rebounds, 1.5 steals and 2.2 blocks per game, and was named to the All-NBA First Team, and to the NBA All-Defensive Second Team, while Barkley averaged 19.2 points, 13.5 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 1.3 steals per game, but only played 53 games due to ankle and hip injuries,^[15][16][17] and Clyde Drexler provided the team with 18.0 points, 6.0 rebounds, 5.7 assists and 1.9 steals per game, along with 119 three-point field goals, but only played 62 games due to a hamstring injury.^[15][16][18] In addition, Mario Elie provided with 11.7 points and 4.0 assists per game, along with 120 three-point field goals, while Johnson contributed 11.5 points per game in 24 games, Willis averaged 11.2 points and 7.5 rebounds per game, and Maloney contributed 9.4 points and 3.7 assists per game, led the Rockets with 154 three-point field goals, and was named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team. Meanwhile, Sam Mack contributed 5.6 points per game, Price provided with 5.0 and 2.6 assists per game in 25 games, rookie power forward, and second-round draft pick Othella Harrington averaged 4.8 points and 3.5 rebounds per game, Bullard contributed 4.5 points per game, and rookie point guard, and second-round draft pick Randy Livingston provided with 3.9 points and 2.4 assists per game.^[19]

During the NBA All-Star weekend at the Gund Arena in Cleveland, Ohio, Olajuwon, Barkley and Drexler were all selected for the 1997 NBA All-Star Game, as members of the Western Conference All-Star team, while head coach Rudy Tomjanovich was selected to coach the Western Conference.^[20][21][22] However, Barkley and Drexler did not participate due to injuries;^[23][24][20] it was also the final All-Star selections for Olajuwon, Barkley and Drexler. Meanwhile, Maloney was selected for the NBA Rookie Game, as a member of the Western Conference Rookie team.^[20][25] Olajuwon also finished in seventh place in Most Valuable Player voting, while Barkley finished in 16th place,^[26][27] and Elie finished tied in sixth place in Defensive Player of the Year voting.^[27]

In the Western Conference First Round of the 1997 NBA playoffs, the Rockets faced off against the 6th–seeded Minnesota Timberwolves, a team that featured the trio of All-Star forward Tom Gugliotta, All-Star forward Kevin Garnett, and rookie point guard Stephon Marbury. The Rockets won the first two games over the Timberwolves at home at The Summit, before winning Game 3 on the road, 125–120 at the Target Center to win the series in a three-game sweep.^[28][29][30]

In the Western Conference Semi-finals, the team faced off against the 2nd–seeded, and Pacific Division champion Seattle SuperSonics, who were led by the All-Star trio of Gary Payton, Shawn Kemp and Detlef Schrempf. Both teams finished with the same regular-season record, but despite the SuperSonics winning the Pacific Division title, the Rockets had home-court advantage in the series. The Rockets took a 3–1 series lead over the SuperSonics, which included a Game 4 road win in overtime, 110–106 at the KeyArena at Seattle Center.^[31][32][33] However, the Rockets lost the next two games to the SuperSonics, including a Game 6 road loss, 99–96.^[34][35][36] With the series tied at 3–3, the Rockets won Game 7 over the SuperSonics at The Summit, 96–91 to win in a hard-fought seven-game series, and advance to the Conference Finals.^[37][38][39]

In the Western Conference Finals, the Rockets then faced off against the top–seeded, and Midwest Division champion Utah Jazz, who were led by the trio of All-Star forward, and Most Valuable Player of the Year, Karl Malone, All-Star guard John Stockton, and Jeff Hornacek. The Rockets lost the first two games to the Jazz on the road at the Delta Center,^[40][41][42] but managed to win their next two home games to even the series at 2–2, as Johnson hit a three-point buzzer-beater to win Game 4 over the Jazz, 95–92 at The Summit.^[43][44][45] However, after losing Game 5 at the Delta Center, 96–91,^[46][47][48] the Rockets lost Game 6 to the Jazz at The Summit, 103–100, when Stockton hit the series-winning three-point shot over Barkley at the buzzer, thus losing the series in six games.^[49][50][51] The Jazz would advance to the NBA Finals for the first time in franchise history, but would lose to the defending NBA champion Chicago Bulls in six games in the 1997 NBA Finals.^[52][53][54]

The Rockets finished 19th in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 667,685 at The Summit during the regular season.^[19][55] Following the season, Mack was traded to the Vancouver Grizzlies,^[56][57] and Threatt and Livingston were both released to free agency. The Rockets would not reach the Western Conference Finals again until 2015, where they were defeated by the Golden State Warriors in five games.^{[citation needed]}