1994–95 Houston Rockets season

1994–95 Houston Rockets season
NBA Champions
Conference Champions
Second NBA Championship
Head coach	Rudy Tomjanovich
Owner(s)	Leslie Alexander
Arena	The Summit (Houston)
Results
Record	47–35 (.573)
Place	Division: 3rd (Midwest) Conference: 6th (Western)
Playoff finish	NBA Champions (Defeated Magic 4-0)
Stats @ Basketball-Reference.com

The 1994–95 NBA season was the Rockets' 28th season in the NBA, and 24th season in Houston.^[1] After winning their first championship, the Rockets went on to win their first nine games of the season. However, with increased competition in the West, management felt a change was needed to win another title. On February 14, the Rockets traded Otis Thorpe to the Portland Trail Blazers for All-Star Clyde Drexler. However, after the trade, the Rockets struggled in the second half of the season posting a record of 17–18 on their way to finishing third in the Midwest Division with a 47–35 record.

In the playoffs, the Rockets faced the 3rd-seeded Utah Jazz in the first round. The Jazz would take a 2–1 lead, but the Rockets went on to win the series in six games. In the semifinals, they faced the Phoenix Suns for the second consecutive year. The Rockets managed to defeat the 2nd-seeded Suns in seven games to advance to the Western Conference Finals. In the all Texas Western Conference, they faced the top-seeded San Antonio Spurs. Both teams lacked home court advantage in the series, only winning on the road until the Rockets won Game 6 at The Summit and advanced to the NBA Finals. In the Finals, they swept the Orlando Magic in four straight games, and won their second consecutive championship. Following the season, Vernon Maxwell signed as a free agent with the Philadelphia 76ers, and Tracy Murray left in the 1995 NBA Expansion Draft.

Offseason

NBA Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	School or club team
2	53	Albert Burditt	Forward	United States	Texas

Roster

Houston Rockets roster

Players

Coaches

Pos.	No.	Name	Height	Weight	DOB (YYYY–MM–DD)
3.0 !SF	15	USA !	Breaux, Tim	7000200659999999999♠6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	Wyoming
4.5 !PF	52	USA !	Brown, Chucky	7000200659999999999♠6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	214 lb (97 kg)	North Carolina State
4.5 !PF	44	USA !	Caldwell, Adrian	7000203200000000000♠6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	265 lb (120 kg)	Lamar
1.0 !PG	10	USA !	Cassell, Sam	7000190500000000000♠6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Florida State
4.5 !PF	32	USA !	Chilcutt, Pete	7000208279999999999♠6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	230 lb (104 kg)	North Carolina
2.0 !SG	22	USA !	Drexler, Clyde	7000200659999999999♠6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	Houston
3.0 !SF	17	USA !	Elie, Mario	7000195580000000000♠6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	American International
4.5 !PF	7	USA !	Herrera, Carl	7000205740000000000♠6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	Houston
3.0 !SF	25	USA !	Horry, Robert	7000205740000000000♠6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	Alabama
4.5 !PF	27	USA !	Jones, Charles	7000205740000000000♠6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	Albany State
2.0 !SG	11	USA !	Maxwell, Vernon	7000193040000000000♠6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Florida
3.0 !SF	31	USA !	Murray, Tracy	7000200659999999999♠6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	UCLA
6.0 !C	34	NGA !	Olajuwon, Hakeem (C)	7000213360000000000♠7 ft 0 in (2.13 m)	255 lb (116 kg)	Houston
1.0 !PG	30	USA !	Smith, Kenny	7000190500000000000♠6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	North Carolina
6.0 !C	55	CRO !	Tabak, Žan	7000213360000000000♠7 ft 0 in (2.13 m)	245 lb (111 kg)	Croatia

Head coach

Rudy Tomjanovich

Legend

(C) Team captain
(DP) Unsigned draft pick
(FA) Free agent
(S) Suspended
Injured

Roster

Depth chart

Pos.	Starter	Bench	Reserve	Inactive
C	Hakeem Olajuwon	Charles Jones	Žan Tabak
PF	Robert Horry	Pete Chilcutt
SF	Clyde Drexler	Chucky Brown	Carl Herrera	Tim Breaux Tracy Murray
SG	Mario Elie		Vernon Maxwell
PG	Kenny Smith	Sam Cassell

Regular season

Season standings

Midwest Division	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Div
y-San Antonio Spurs	62	20	.756	—	33–8	29–12	20–6
x-Utah Jazz	60	22	.732	2	33–8	27–14	17–9
x-Houston Rockets	47	35	.573	15	25–16	22–19	13–13
x-Denver Nuggets	41	41	.500	21	23–18	18–23	13–13
Dallas Mavericks	36	46	.439	26	19–22	17–24	11–15
Minnesota Timberwolves	21	61	.256	41	13–28	8–33	4–22

^[2]

Record vs. opponents

1994-95 NBA Records
Team	ATL	BOS	CHA	CHI	CLE	DAL	DEN	DET	GSW	HOU	IND	LAC	LAL	MIA	MIL	MIN	NJN	NYK	ORL	PHI	PHO	POR	SAC	SAS	SEA	UTA	WAS
Atlanta	—	3–1	2–2	1–4	1–4	2–0	2–0	3–2	2–0	0–2	1–4	2–0	0–2	2–2	1–3	2–0	4–0	2–2	1–3	3–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	0–2	0–2	4–0
Boston	1–3	—	1–3	0–4	2–2	1–1	1–1	3–1	2–0	1–1	2–2	0–2	1–1	4–1	1–3	2–0	2–3	0–5	2–3	3–1	1–1	0–2	1–1	0–2	1–1	0–2	3–1
Charlotte	2–2	3–1	—	2–2	3–2	0–2	1–1	5–0	2–0	0–2	1–4	2–0	0–2	3–1	4–1	1–1	3–1	3–1	1–3	3–1	0–2	2–0	1–1	1–1	2–0	2–0	3–1
Chicago	4–1	4–0	2–2	—	2–3	1–1	1–1	5–0	2–0	1–1	2–2	1–1	1–1	3–1	1–4	2–0	2–2	3–1	1–3	4–0	1–1	1–1	0–2	1–1	0–2	0–2	2–2
Cleveland	4–1	2–2	2–3	3–2	—	0–2	1–1	2–2	2–0	0–2	2–3	1–1	1–1	1–3	4–0	1–1	4–0	2–2	1–3	3–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	0–2	0–2	1–1	3–1
Dallas	0–2	1–1	2–0	1–1	2–0	—	1–4	1–1	3–1	2–3	1–1	3–1	1–3	0–2	1–1	4–1	1–1	0–2	0–2	2–0	0–4	3–1	2–2	2–3	0–4	2–4	1–1
Denver	0–2	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	4–1	—	1–1	1–3	1–4	1–1	4–0	2–2	2–0	2–0	6–0	1–1	0–2	0–2	1–1	1–3	3–1	2–2	1–4	1–3	1–4	2–0
Detroit	2–3	1–3	0–5	0–5	2–2	1–1	1–1	—	1–1	0–2	2–2	1–1	0–2	1–3	2–3	1–1	2–2	1–3	1–3	4–0	1–1	0–2	1–1	0–2	0–2	0–2	3–1
Golden State	0–2	0–2	0–2	0–2	0–2	1–3	3–1	1–1	—	0–4	0–2	3–2	3–2	1–1	0–2	1–3	1–1	1–1	0–2	1–1	3–2	1–4	0–5	1–3	1–4	2–2	2–0
Houston	2–0	1–1	2–0	1–1	2–0	3–2	4–1	2–0	4–0	—	1–1	3–1	0–4	2–0	1–1	3–2	2–0	0–2	0–2	2–0	3–1	1–3	3–1	1–5	0–4	2–3	2–0
Indiana	4–1	2–2	4–1	2–2	3–2	1–1	1–1	2–2	2–0	1–1	—	2–0	1–1	2–2	3–2	2–0	3–1	1–3	2–2	4–0	1–1	1–1	2–0	2–0	1–1	0–2	3–1
L.A. Clippers	0–2	2–0	0–2	1–1	1–1	1–3	0–4	1–1	2–3	1–3	0–2	—	2–3	0–2	1–1	1–3	0–2	0–2	0–2	1–1	1–4	0–5	1–4	0–4	0–5	1–3	0–2
L.A. Lakers	2–0	1–1	2–0	1–1	1–1	3–1	2–2	2–0	2–3	4–0	1–1	3–2	—	1–1	1–1	3–1	2–0	0–2	1–1	1–1	1–4	2–3	3–2	1–3	4–1	2–2	2–0
Miami	2–2	1–4	1–3	1–3	3–1	2–0	0–2	3–1	1–1	0–2	2–2	2–0	1–1	—	4–0	1–1	1–3	1–4	1–3	1–4	0–2	0–2	0–2	0–2	0–2	0–2	4–1
Milwaukee	3–1	3–1	1–4	4–1	0–4	1–1	0–2	3–2	2–0	1–1	2–3	1–1	1–1	0–4	—	1–1	2–2	2–2	0–4	3–1	0–2	0–2	1–1	0–2	0–2	0–2	3–1
Minnesota	0–2	0–2	1–1	0–2	1–1	1–4	0–6	1–1	3–1	2–3	0–2	3–1	1–3	1–1	1–1	—	1–1	0–2	1–1	1–1	0–4	0–4	1–3	0–5	0–4	1–4	1–1
New Jersey	0–4	3–2	1–3	2–2	0–4	1–1	1–1	2–2	1–1	0–2	1–3	2–0	0–2	3–1	2–2	1–1	—	1–4	2–2	2–3	0–2	1–1	1–1	0–2	1–1	0–2	2–3
New York	2–2	5–0	1–3	1–3	2–2	2–0	2–0	3–1	1–1	2–0	3–1	2–0	2–0	4–1	2–2	2–0	4–1	—	2–3	4–0	1–1	1–1	2–0	1–1	0–2	0–2	4–0
Orlando	3–1	3–2	3–1	3–1	3–1	2–0	2–0	3–1	2–0	2–0	2–2	2–0	1–1	3–1	4–0	1–1	2–2	3–2	—	4–1	1–1	2–0	1–1	1–1	0–2	1–1	3–2
Philadelphia	1–3	1–3	1–3	0–4	1–3	0–2	1–1	0–4	1–1	0–2	0–4	1–1	1–1	4–1	1–3	1–1	3–2	0–4	1–4	—	0–2	2–0	1–1	0–2	0–2	0–2	3–2
Phoenix	1–1	1–1	2–0	1–1	1–1	4–0	3–1	1–1	2–3	1–3	1–1	4–1	4–1	2–0	2–0	4–0	2–0	1–1	1–1	2–0	—	5–0	4–1	2–2	4–1	2–2	2–0
Portland	1–1	2–0	0–2	1–1	1–1	1–3	1–3	2–0	4–1	3–1	1–1	5–0	3–2	2–0	2–0	4–0	1–1	1–1	0–2	0–2	0–5	—	3–2	1–3	2–3	1–3	2–0
Sacramento	1–1	1–1	1–1	2–0	1–1	2–2	2–2	1–1	5–0	1–3	0–2	4–1	2–3	2–0	1–1	3–1	1–1	0–2	1–1	1–1	1–4	2–3	—	0–4	3–2	0–4	1–1
San Antonio	1–1	2–0	1–1	1–1	2–0	3–2	4–1	2–0	3–1	5–1	0–2	4–0	3–1	2–0	2–0	5–0	2–0	1–1	1–1	2–0	2–2	3–1	4–0	—	2–2	3–2	2–0
Seattle	2–0	1–1	0–2	2–0	2–0	4–0	3–1	2–0	4–1	4–0	1–1	5–0	1–4	2–0	2–0	4–0	1–1	2–0	2–0	2–0	1–4	3–2	2–3	2–2	—	1–3	2–0
Utah	2–0	2–0	0–2	2–0	1–1	4–2	4–1	2–0	2–2	3–2	2–0	3–1	2–2	2–0	2–0	4–1	2–0	2–0	1–1	2–0	2–2	3–1	4–0	2–3	3–1	—	2–0
Washington	0–4	1–3	1–3	2–2	1–3	1–1	0–2	1–3	0–2	0–2	1–3	2–0	0–2	1–4	1–3	1–1	3–2	0–4	2–3	2–3	0–2	0–2	1–1	0–2	0–2	0–2	—

Player stats

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game

Regular season

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Breaux, Tim !Tim Breaux	42	2	8.1	.372	.240	.653	.8	.4	.26	.10	3.0
Brooks, Scott !Scott Brooks	28	0	6.6	.538	.471	.857	.5	.8	.29	.04	3.4
Brown, Chucky !Chucky Brown	41	14	19.9	.603	.333	.613	4.6	.7	.27	.34	6.1
Caldwell, Adrian !Adrian Caldwell	7	0	4.3	.250	.000	.500	1.4	.0	.14	.00	.7
Cassell, Sam !Sam Cassell	82	1	23.0	.427	.330	.843	2.6	4.9	1.15	.17	9.5
Chilcutt, Pete !Pete Chilcutt	68	17	19.8	.445	.407	.738	4.7	1.0	.37	.63	5.3
Drexler, Clyde !Clyde Drexler	35	34	37.1	.506	.357	.809	7.0	4.4	1.77	.66	21.4
Elie, Mario !Mario Elie	81	13	23.4	.499	.398	.842	2.4	2.3	.80	.15	8.8
Herrera, Carl !Carl Herrera	61	26	21.8	.523	.000	.624	4.6	.7	.66	.62	6.8
Horry, Robert !Robert Horry	64	61	32.4	.447	.379	.761	5.1	3.4	1.47	1.19	10.2
Jones, Charles !Charles Jones	3	0	12.0	.333	.000	.500	2.3	.0	.00	.33	1.0
Maxwell, Vernon !Vernon Maxwell	64	54	31.8	.394	.324	.688	2.6	4.3	1.17	.20	13.3
Murray, Tracy !Tracy Murray	25	0	8.1	.400	.422	.625	.9	.2	.28	.12	3.5
Olajuwon, Hakeem !Hakeem Olajuwon	72	72	39.6	.517	.188	.756	10.8	3.5	1.85	3.36	27.8
Smith, Kenny !Kenny Smith	81	81	25.1	.484	.429	.851	1.9	4.0	.88	.12	10.4
Tabak, Zan !Žan Tabak	37	0	4.9	.453	.000	.614	1.5	.1	.05	.19	2.0
Thorpe, Otis !Otis Thorpe	36	35	33.0	.563	.000	.528	8.9	1.6	.61	.36	13.3

Playoffs

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Brown, Chucky !Chucky Brown	21	0	15.5	.447	.500	.676	3.1	.3	.43	.10	4.5
Cassell, Sam !Sam Cassell	22	0	22.0	.438	.400	.835	1.9	4.0	.95	.09	11.0
Chilcutt, Pete !Pete Chilcutt	20	0	16.2	.484	.389	.824	2.9	.9	.35	.20	4.5
Drexler, Clyde !Clyde Drexler	22	22	38.6	.481	.303	.786	7.0	5.0	1.50	.68	20.5
Elie, Mario !Mario Elie	22	22	28.9	.504	.431	.795	2.8	2.5	.95	.05	9.1
Herrera, Carl !Carl Herrera	1	0	6.0	1.000	.000	.000	.0	1.0	.00	.00	2.0
Horry, Robert !Robert Horry	22	22	38.2	.445	.400	.744	7.0	3.5	1.45	1.18	13.1
Jones, Charles !Charles Jones	19	0	12.5	.385	.000	.333	2.3	.0	.21	.53	.7
Maxwell, Vernon !Vernon Maxwell	1	0	16.0	.143	.000	1.000	3.0	1.0	.00	.00	3.0
Olajuwon, Hakeem !Hakeem Olajuwon	22	22	42.2	.531	.500	.681	10.3	4.5	1.18	2.82	33.0
Smith, Kenny !Kenny Smith	22	22	29.6	.438	.442	.900	2.2	4.5	.64	.14	10.8
Tabak, Zan !Žan Tabak	8	0	3.9	.400	.000	1.000	.1	.1	.12	.38	.8

Playoffs

West First Round

(3) Utah Jazz vs. (6) Houston Rockets: Rockets win series 3-2

Game 1 @ Delta Center, Salt Lake City (April 27): Utah 102, Houston 100
Game 2 @ Delta Center, Salt Lake City (April 29): Houston 140, Utah 126
Game 3 @ The Summit, Houston (May 3): Utah 95, Houston 82
Game 4 @ The Summit, Houston (May 5): Houston 123, Utah 106
Game 5 @ Delta Center, Salt Lake City (May 7): Houston 95, Utah 91

Last Playoff Meeting: 1994 Western Conference Finals (Houston won 4-1)

West Conference Semifinals

(2) Phoenix Suns vs. (6) Houston Rockets: Rockets win series 4-3

Game 1 @ America West Arena, Phoenix (May 9): Phoenix 130, Houston 108
Game 2 @ America West Arena, Phoenix (May 11): Phoenix 118, Houston 94
Game 3 @ The Summit, Houston (May 13): Houston 118, Phoenix 85
Game 4 @ The Summit, Houston (May 14): Phoenix 114, Houston 110
Game 5 @ America West Arena, Phoenix (May 16): Houston 103, Phoenix 97 (OT)
Game 6 @ The Summit, Houston (May 18): Houston 116, Phoenix 103
Game 7 @ America West Arena, Phoenix (May 20): Houston 115, Phoenix 114

Last Playoff Meeting: 1994 Western Conference Semifinals (Houston won 4-3)

West Conference Finals

(1) San Antonio Spurs vs. (6) Houston Rockets: Rockets win series 4-2

Game 1 @ Alamodome, San Antonio (May 22): Houston 94, San Antonio 93
Game 2 @ Alamodome, San Antonio (May 24): Houston 106, San Antonio 96
Game 3 @ The Summit, Houston (May 26): San Antonio 107, Houston 102
Game 4 @ The Summit, Houston (May 28): San Antonio 103, Houston 81
Game 5 @ Alamodome, San Antonio (May 30): Houston 111, San Antonio 90
Game 6 @ The Summit, Houston (June 1): Houston 100, San Antonio 95

Last Playoff Meeting: 1981 Western Conference Semifinals (Houston won 4-3)

NBA finals

1995 NBA Finals Roster

Olajuwon vs. O'Neal

Although both centers played well, Olajuwon is generally considered to have outplayed O'Neal. Olajuwon outscored O'Neal in every game of the series and became one of the few players in NBA history to score at least 30 points in every game of an NBA Finals series:^[3]^[4]

1995 NBA Finals	Gm 1	Gm 2	Gm 3	Gm 4	Totals
Hakeem Olajuwon	31	34	31	35	32.8 ppg
Shaquille O'Neal	26	33	28	25	28.0 ppg

By winning his second straight NBA Finals MVP award, Hakeem Olajuwon became the sixth player to win the award on multiple occasions, joining Willis Reed, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird and Michael Jordan. Jordan and Olajuwon at the time were the only players to win the award consecutively. Later, O'Neal himself would go on to win the award in three consecutive seasons with the Lakers (2000–02), as Kobe Bryant and LeBron James would later on join the list as well.

Series Summary

Game	Date	Home Team	Result	Road Team
Game 1	June 7	Orlando	118-120	Houston
Game 2	June 9	Orlando	106-117	Houston
Game 3	June 11	Houston	106-103	Orlando
Game 4	June 14	Houston	113-101	Orlando

Rockets win series 4-0

Award winners

Hakeem Olajuwon – NBA Finals Most Valuable Player
Hakeem Olajuwon – All-NBA Third Team

References

↑ 1994-95 Houston Rockets
↑ 1994-95 NBA Season Summary - Basketball-Reference.com
↑ History of the NBA Finals: Hakeem Olajuwon: The NBA’s Best In The Mid ’90s, hollywoodsportsbook.com, accessed February 16, 2007.
↑ NBA Finals Records, Basketball.com, accessed February 16, 2007.

1994–95 NBA season by team

Eastern

Atlantic	Boston Miami New Jersey New York Orlando Philadelphia Washington

Central	Atlanta Charlotte Chicago Cleveland Detroit Indiana Milwaukee

Western

Midwest	Dallas Denver Houston Minnesota San Antonio Utah

Pacific	Golden State L.A. Clippers L.A. Lakers Phoenix Portland Sacramento Seattle

Houston Rockets 1994–95 NBA Champions

7 Carl Herrera 10 Sam Cassell 11 Vernon Maxwell 15 Tim Breaux 17 Mario Elie 22 Clyde Drexler 25 Robert Horry 27 Charles Jones 30 Kenny Smith 31 Tracy Murray 32 Pete Chilcutt 34 Hakeem Olajuwon (Finals MVP) 52 Chucky Brown 55 Žan Tabak Head coach Rudy Tomjanovich Assistant coaches Bill Berry Jim Boylen Carroll Dawson Larry Smith

Regular season Playoffs

NBA champions

Houston Rockets

Founded in 1967 Played in San Diego (1967–1971) Based in Houston, Texas

Franchise	Franchise History Expansion Draft All-time roster Seasons Records Draft history Head coaches Current season

Arenas	San Diego Sports Arena Hofheinz Pavilion HemisFair Arena The Summit/Compaq Center Toyota Center

Culture and lore	Red Rowdies Clutch City Clutch the Rockets Bear The Clock Incident 13 points in 35 seconds The Kiss of Death The Dream Shake 22 in a row Kermit Washington/Rudy Tomjanovich

NBA Championships (2)	1994 1995

Western Conference Championships (4)	1981 1986 1994 1995

Administration	Owner Leslie Alexander General Manager Daryl Morey Head Coach Mike D'Antoni

Retired numbers	11 22 23 24 34 45 CD

Most Valuable Players	Moses Malone Hakeem Olajuwon

Hall of Famers	Charles Barkley Rick Barry Clyde Drexler Elvin Hayes Moses Malone Calvin Murphy Dikembe Mutombo Hakeem Olajuwon Scottie Pippen Ralph Sampson Yao Ming

D-League affiliate	Rio Grande Valley Vipers

Rivals	San Antonio Spurs Los Angeles Lakers Utah Jazz

Media	TV Root Sports Southwest Radio Sportstalk 790 Announcers Bill Worrell Clyde Drexler Matt Bullard Craig Ackerman

San Diego / Houston Rockets seasons

1960s

1970s

1980s

1990s

1993–94

1994–95

2000s

2010s

Bold indicates NBA Finals victory

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