TO CELEBRATE the end of the 20th
century, Rockets Blastoff is proud to present the Millennium
Moments in Rockets History. These moments feature the 100 greatest
shots, games and events that have made the Rockets franchise what
it is today.
1. (June 22, 1994) As the crowd
counted down the remaining seconds and his teammates celebrated all
around him, Hakeem Olajuwon took a seat on the scorer's table and
smiled. He was an NBA champion and the city of Houston finally had
a championship to call its own. The Rockets captured their first
NBA title by defeating the New York Knicks 90-84 in Game 7 of the
1994 NBA Finals. "My celebration was to watch everybody being
ecstatic, rejoicing, jumping on tables and hugging each other,
showing emotion in their own way," said Olajuwon, the unanimous MVP
of the Finals. He finished the game with 25 points, 10 rebounds,
seven assists and three blocked shots and then took turns hugging
the Larry O'Brien championship trophy with his teammates and
first-year owner Leslie Alexander. Rockets Head Coach Rudy
Tomjanovich and his former roommate Calvin Murphy, who had become
Rockets for life via the 1970 NBA Draft, met on the court and
hugged. "Houston, you've wanted this for so long. You've finally
got it," Tomjanovich said later. "I'm proud to be part of a team
that got it for you." And while most of Houston partied in the
night, Olajuwon celebrated with a smile. "Champion! I always wanted
be called a champion."
2. (June 14, 1995) One year after
winning their first title, the Rockets became the fifth franchise
in NBA history to repeat as champions. All it took was a major
trade and one of the greatest runs in playoff history. After
acquiring superstar Clyde Drexler from Portland in February, the
Rockets limped into the playoffs as a No. 6 seed after a rash of
injuries hit the team late in the season. They then surprised
everybody by winning four straight playoff series against the teams
with the best four records in the NBA. The Rockets completed their
sweep of the Orlando Magic in the 1995 NBA Finals with a 113-101
Game 4 win to become the lowest playoff seed ever to win an NBA
title.
3. (May 21, 1986) Ralph Sampson thought it was short.
Robert Reid thought it was ugly. And Magic Johnson thought it was
overtime. Then it went in! With one second left and the score tied
at 112, Sampson made one of the most unbelievable shots in NBA
history to send the Rockets past the defending-NBA champion Los
Angeles Lakers and into the 1986 NBA Finals. With his back to the
basket, Sampson jumped up, caught the inbounds pass, spun around
and flicked the ball toward the basket in less than a second. The
ball hit the rim, went high in the air, and came back down through
the net for a 114-112 win in Game 5 of the 1986 Western Conference
Finals.
4. (June 19, 1984) In a draft that
featured Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley and John Stockton, the
Rockets took just 39 seconds of their allotted five minutes to
write down Hakeem Olajuwon's name on a sheet of paper and hand it
to NBA Commissioner David Stern. In the 16 seasons since then,
Olajuwon has led the Rockets to two NBA championships and has
become one of the greatest players ever to play in the NBA. In
1994, he became the only player ever to win Defensive Player of the
Year, NBA MVP and NBA Finals MVP in the same season. He entered the
1999-2000 season as the Rockets' all-time leader in 21
regular-season and playoff statistical categories.
5. (May 22- June 1, 1995) David Robinson was in the wrong
place at the wrong time. For six games during the 1995 Western
Conference Finals, the reigning NBA MVP was standing between Hakeem
Olajuwon and the basket. Olajuwon used a variety of fakes, hooks
and Dream Shakes to drive past, escape from, and score over
Robinson and the Spurs' double-and-triple teams. In the series,
Olajuwon outscored Robinson 212-146, pouring in 40 or more points
in three of the games. Olajuwon cemented himself as one of the
greatest basketball players of all time by turning in one of the
most dominant individual performances in NBA history. "He
(Robinson) worked so hard to keep up with all my fakes, but he
couldn't," Olajuwon said. "I was at my best."
6. (Oct. 25, 1976) He was acquired because the Rockets
brass thought his defense would help them contend for a Central
Division title. His scoring and rebounding ended up leading them to
the brink of an NBA championship. The Rockets sent two first-round
draft choices and cash to the Buffalo Braves for center Moses
Malone and then watched him become virtually unstoppable. In six
seasons with the Rockets, Malone averaged 24.0 points and 15.0
rebounds and was named NBA MVP twice (1979 and 1982). He still
holds 22 Rockets regular-season and playoff records.
7. (May 13-15, 1994) Two hours
after blowing the biggest lead in NBA playoff history, the Rockets
flew out of Choke City down 0-2 to the Phoenix Suns. Four days
later, the Rockets flew into Clutch City with the series tied 2-2.
In Game 1 of the 1994 Western Conference Semifinals, Houston built
an 18-point lead but lost. In Game 2, they had a 20-point lead in
the fourth quarter but lost in overtime. "I'll never forget getting
on the charter flight after Game 2," Rockets television commentator
Bill Worrell said. "It was like a morgue." The Rockets didn't rise
from the dead until the second half of Game 3 when they found
themselves behind 49-41 at halftime. Then Vernon Maxwell got hot,
scoring 31 points in the second half as the Rockets won 118-102.
Houston finished "Desert Sweep" by winning Game 4, 107-96, to even
the series.
8. (Feb. 14, 1995) On Valentine's Day, Rockets fans got a
sweet surprise when hometown hero Clyde Drexler was acquired from
Portland. "I still can't believe it," Hakeem Olajuwon said when
informed of the trade. "In my wildest dreams, I never thought it
would happen. It's too good to be true." In the 1995 NBA Playoffs,
Drexler and his former University of Houston teammate Olajuwon
formed an unstoppable 1-2 punch as the Rockets claimed their second
consecutive NBA title. "It was great to win the championship in the
place where it all began," Drexler said.
9. (May 20, 1995) Everybody expected Mario Elie to throw
the ball to Hakeem Olajuwon, but Elie had a feeling he was going to
be the one to kiss the Phoenix Suns goodbye. With the score tied at
110 late in Game 7 of the 1995 Western Conference Semifinals,
Robert Horry spotted Elie across the floor in perfect position to
get the ball to Olajuwon. "Dream was wide-open, but I had my feet
set. I let it go and it felt good," Elie said. As his shot swished
through the net, he ran toward the Suns' bench and blew a kiss to
let them know the game was over. The Rockets won 115-114.
10. (May 20, 1992) The Rockets' front office decided that
Rudy Tomjanovich's discipline and basketball knowledge would make
him a good head coach. They were wrong; it made him a great one.
Including his 16-14 record as interim head coach during the last
part of the 1991-92 season, Tomjanovich has compiled the best
record ever by a Rockets head coach (353-219 going into the
1999-2000 season). In the postseason, he has led the Rockets to
back-to-back NBA championships, while amassing the most playoff
wins (51) by a Rockets head coach.
11. (June 1970) The San Diego
Rockets went into the 1970 NBA Draft wanting to find players that
could contribute immediately. Twenty-nine years later, draft picks
Rudy Tomjanovich and Calvin Murphy are still contributing to the
Rockets franchise. After being selected in the first and second
rounds, respectively, the duo spent the next 11 seasons as
teammates and roommates until Tomjanovich retired in 1981. Today,
Tomjanovich is the head coach of the Rockets, while Murphy is the
Rockets' community services advisor and a commentator on Rockets
television broadcasts.
12. (June 19, 1994) A championship block. With the
Rockets leading 86-84 and 5.5 seconds remaining in Game 6 of the
1994 NBA Finals, New York Knicks guard John Starks had a seemingly
wide-open three-pointer. The ball was barely out of Starks' hands
when Hakeem Olajuwon came out of nowhere to block it and send the
series to Game 7. "They were running the pick and roll, so I tried
to stay close to the ball," Olajuwon said. "When I saw him open for
the three, I fell trying to get out to him. Then I recovered and
ran out and blocked the shot."
13. (May 10, 1993) All Calvin Murphy ever wanted to do
was start for his high school basketball team. He ended up in the
Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. In 1993, Murphy became the first
player to spend his entire career with the Rockets and be inducted
into the Hall of Fame. The 5-9 guard finished his career 42nd on
the all-time NBA scoring list and 17th in scoring average. He still
holds the NBA record for the highest free throw percentage in one
season (.958, 1980-81).
14. (May 23, 1984) NBA Commissioner
David Stern flipped the coin, Portland Trail Blazers owner Larry
Weinberg called tails, and when the coin came up heads on the
carpet the Rockets had won the No. 1 pick in the 1984 NBA Draft.
Rockets publicity director Jim Foley left no doubt whom the team
would select when he took off his jacket, shirt and tie to reveal a
red T-shirt with the word "Akeem" across the chest. Rockets Head
Coach Bill Fitch couldn't contain his excitement when he started to
think about Olajuwon and 1983 No. 1 pick Ralph Sampson in the same
frontcourt. "I don't know a coach who would tell you that Olajuwon
and Sampson can't play together in the same lineup," Fitch said.
"Then again, we could cut them in half and make four guards."
15. (June 23, 1971) Omaha may not be the Space City, but
it almost had the Rockets. San Diego Rockets owner Robert Breitbard
tried to move his team to Nebraska, but when the deal fell through,
he ended up selling it to Texas Sports Investments. Rudy
Tomjanovich was visiting family in Michigan when he found out that
his new home would be in Houston. "I had visions of tumbleweeds,"
he said. Since coming to Houston in 1971, the Rockets have compiled
an 1178-1086 record, won four division titles and captured two NBA
championships.
16. (April 29, 1981) After upsetting the Los Angeles
Lakers and the San Antonio Spurs, Moses Malone wasn't about to let
the Kansas City Kings keep him and the Rockets from reaching the
1981 NBA Finals. With the Rockets up 3-1 in the series, Malone made
sure there would be no miracles in Missouri as he poured in 36
points in the Rockets' 97-88 series-clinching win. Calvin Murphy,
who had been with the Rockets since 1970, cried tears of happiness.
"This team is just amazing," Murphy said. "Every time we get in
trouble, somebody jumps up and props us back up."
17. (May 11, 1994) For the first three quarters, the
Rockets could do no wrong. In the fourth quarter they could do no
right. Three days after blowing an 18-point lead and losing Game 1
of the 1994 Western Conference Semifinals to the Phoenix Suns, the
Rockets lost a 20-point fourth-quarter lead and Game 2. The next
day the Houston Chronicle renamed Houston "Choke City." The Rockets
then used Houston's new moniker as a motivational tool and won two
games in Phoenix to tie the series. "When Choke City came out,
nobody believed in us but ourselves," Rockets Head Coach Rudy
Tomjanovich said. "It was nice to prove all those people
wrong."
18. (May 19, 1983) The Rockets offered the Indiana Pacers
a package of players, draft picks and a million dollars in cash for
the No. 1 pick in the 1983 NBA Draft. The Pacers turned it down,
preferring to take their chances on a flip of the coin. They lost.
The Rockets called heads on the advice of owner Charlie Thomas'
daughter Tracy and won, immediately letting it be known they wanted
University of Virginia center Ralph Sampson.
19. (June 7, 1995) The Orlando
Magic thought they had it won in the second quarter, should have
won it in the fourth quarter, and watched it all slip away in
overtime. The Magic held a 20-point lead in the second period, but
saw it shrink to 11 points going into halftime of Game 1 of the
1995 NBA Finals. Orlando held a 110-107 lead with 10.5 seconds left
in the game when Nick Anderson missed four straight free throws to
give the Rockets life. Kenny Smith then drilled his NBA
Finals-record seventh three-pointer to send the game into overtime.
The two teams played to an overtime score of 118-118 with mere
seconds left. Clyde Drexler drove the lane but had to change his
shot to avoid Shaquille O'Neal. Hakeem Olajuwon was in perfect
position to tip in the miss and give the Rockets a 120-118 win.
"Hakeem didn't know his shot had beat the buzzer until Mario (Elie)
and I told him we had just won the game," Smith said.
20. (April 5, 1981) After barely making the 1981 NBA
Playoffs, the Houston Rockets weren't supposed to put up much of a
fight against the defending-NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers. They
ended up knocking
them out. After splitting the first two
games of the three-game series, the Rockets found themselves
trailing 86-85 with 30 seconds left in the third contest. As the
Rockets set up their offense, Mike Dunleavy found Calvin Murphy
open, but the Lakers immediately swarmed him forcing Murphy to pass
back to Dunleavy. He nailed the 15-footer giving the Rockets a
one-point lead, a lead they would never relinquish in their 89-86
Game 3 win.
21. (June 12, 1994) At the end of Game 3 of the 1994 NBA
Finals, the New York Knicks decided that Hakeem Olajuwon wasn't
going to beat them. They didn't count on a rookie doing it. After
trailing for most of the game, the Knicks took an 88-86 lead with
50 seconds remaining. Then Rockets first-year player Sam Cassell
hit the biggest shot of his career when he received a pass from
Olajuwon and nailed a three-pointer to give Houston an 89-88 lead
with 32.6 seconds to go. Cassell then hit four straight free throws
to give the Rockets a 93-89 win and a 2-1 lead in the series.
22. (1995 NBA Playoffs) In the 1995
NBA Playoffs, the Rockets just couldn't wait to get on the road
again. Houston set an NBA playoff record with seven straight road
wins en route to the 1995 NBA championship. The Rockets won two
games in Phoenix, three in San Antonio and two in Orlando as they
went 11-2 overall to close out their playoff run.
23. (May 5, 1995) On the brink of elimination, the
Rockets' two best players combined for one huge night. Clyde
Drexler scored 41 points on 12-of-18 shooting, while Hakeem
Olajuwon scored 40 points by connecting on 14-of-22 shots from the
field as the Rockets pulled even with the Utah Jazz with a 123-106
win in Game 4 of the First Round of the 1995 NBA Playoffs.
24. (April 21, 1996) Get that out of here! For the
3,190th time in his career, Hakeem Olajuwon sent a shot back from
which it came, breaking Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's NBA record for
blocked shots on the last day of the 1995-96 season. "Sometimes I
love to block shots more than score," Olajuwon said. "It gives you
a special feeling." Phoenix's A.C. Green tried to avoid that
feeling by head-faking twice while under the basket. Olajuwon was
still able to get a piece of Green's shot and become the most
prolific shot-blocker in NBA history.
25. (May 7, 1995) The Houston Rockets owned the fourth
quarter. After trailing 71-59 with a minute to go in the third
quarter, the Rockets used some timely defense and the shooting
touch of Hakeem Olajuwon to win Game 5 of the First Round of the
1995 NBA Playoffs 95-91 over Utah. The Rockets were down seven with
4:49 to go in the fourth quarter when an Olajuwon jumper sparked a
10-0 run, which saw the Rockets take an 85-82 lead with 1:44 to
play. Olajuwon scored the last six points of the run, two of which
came on a dunk over three Jazz players. Olajuwon finished the day
with 33 points followed by Clyde Drexler with 31.
26. (Aug. 19, 1996) If you can't
beat them, join them. That's exactly what Charles Barkley did when
the Rockets traded Sam Cassell, Robert Horry, Chucky Brown and Mark
Bryant to the Phoenix Suns to acquire the perennial All-Star.
Barkley, whose Suns teams had lost to the Rockets in the 1994 and
1995 NBA Playoffs, had been pushing to be traded to Houston ever
since the 1995-96 season ended. "This is the best team on paper
that I've ever been on," Barkley said. "No doubt in my mind."
27. (1993-94) Hakeem Olajuwon left no doubt that 1994 was
his year by becoming the first player ever to win the Defensive
Player of the Year award, the NBA MVP and the NBA Finals MVP in the
same season. "Hakeem is one of the four greatest centers in the
history of basketball," Hall of Fame center Bill Walton said. "He's
there with Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
He's the epitome of what it takes to be a franchise player. Hakeem
is the kindest man off the court and the fiercest warrior on
it."
28. (June 1968) The San Diego
Rockets knew if they wanted to win in the NBA, they were going to
have to get more scoring and rebounding. They got it immediately
when they selected Elvin Hayes with the No. 1 pick in the 1968 NBA
Draft. In his first four years with the Rockets, Hayes averaged
27.4 points and 16.3 rebounds. Hayes still holds 15 Rockets rookie
records and the NBA rookie record for minutes played (3,695, an
average of 45 minutes per game).
29. (April 17, 1981) Calvin Murphy started Game 7 of the
1981 Western Conference Semifinals on fire and kept burning the
Spurs until the Rockets had a 105-100 win. Murphy had 28 points at
halftime, but the Rockets still trailed 66-57. After the break, the
duo of Murphy and Moses Malone combined to give the Rockets a
one-point lead at the end of the third quarter. The two teams then
traded baskets until Robert Reid's baseline jumper with 1:21
remaining clinched the game for the Rockets, but it was Murphy's
hot hand that made the difference in the contest. Murphy finished
the game with 42 points on 19-of-28 shooting.
30. (Oct. 29, 1996) The Rockets were well represented
when the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History were announced. A total
of seven current or former Rockets made the list with Hakeem
Olajuwon being the only player that had spent his entire career
with the Rockets franchise. "He can do so much," said Wilt
Chamberlain, who was also named to the list. "I watch him shoot
that turnaround, and say to myself, 'He's the only one out there
doing the things that I could do.' " Other players who made the
list that have played or are still playing for the Rockets include
Charles Barkley, Rick Barry, Clyde Drexler, Elvin Hayes, Moses
Malone and Scottie Pippen.
31. (May 31, 1994) How was the West
won? Team defense, three-pointers and team play. The Rockets used
eight three-pointers to jump out to a 24-point lead after three
quarters, then had to hang on for dear life as the Utah Jazz
mounted an amazing comeback in Game 5 of the 1994 Western
Conference Finals. The Jazz cut the lead to eight, but Robert Horry
and Hakeem Olajuwon made sure they wouldn't get any closer as the
Rockets reached the NBA Finals for the first time since 1986 with a
94-83 victory to claim the 1994 Western Conference title.
32. (June 15, 1982) There was no suspense when the NBA
announced its 1982 MVP, but there would have been pandemonium if
anybody but Moses Malone had won it. All Malone did was finish
second in the league in scoring (31.1 points per game) and win the
rebounding title (14.7). "Moses was always getting ganged up on,"
Rockets Head Coach Del Harris said. "But night in and night out, he
went out there and was able to come through with the kind of
all-star performance that got us all the way to the Finals last
season."
33. (Dec. 2, 1993) The New York Knicks talked the talk,
then they watched the hottest team in the NBA walk the walk. The
1993-94 Houston Rockets tied the NBA record for consecutive wins to
start a season by defeating the trash-talking Knicks 94-85 for
their 15th straight win. "There's no excuses, we just got our butts
kicked," Knicks Head Coach Pat Riley said. "We were ready to play
them yesterday. Unfortunately, the game was today. You've got to
walk your talk a little and we didn't." Hakeem Olajuwon led the
Rockets with 37 points and 13 rebounds, while holding Knicks center
Patrick Ewing to just 12 points.
34. (June 14, 1995) What do the
1994-95 Orlando Magic, San Antonio Spurs, Phoenix Suns and Utah
Jazz have in common? They all lost to the 47-35 Houston Rockets in
the 1995 NBA Playoffs. The No. 6 Rockets became the lowest seed
ever to win the NBA title when they swept the Magic in the 1995 NBA
Finals. "Every team we beat could have been champion of the
league," Rockets Head Coach Rudy Tomjanovich said. The Rockets also
became the first team to ever win four playoff series against
opponents who had 50 or more regular season wins.
35. (Dec. 27, 1980 - Feb. 28, 1981) The ball felt good
when he let it go, but somewhere between his fingertips and the
rim, the ball veered right and took with it a piece of history.
Calvin Murphy saw his NBA record for consecutive free throws end at
78 when he missed a technical foul shot against the San Antonio
Spurs. For 78 times prior to that, he followed his shot to the
bottom of the net as he obliterated the old NBA record of 60 set by
Rick Barry in 1976.
36. (May 7, 1981) After losing Game 1 of the 1981 NBA
Finals to the Boston Celtics, the Rockets took a different approach
in Game 2. "I decided that when I went up for a rebound, if I came
down and someone was under me swatting at the ball, I was going to
knock him through the floor," Moses Malone said. Malone used his
new mindset to score 31 points and grab 15 rebounds as the Rockets
won their first-ever NBA Finals game 92-90. Calvin Murphy chipped
in 10 points.
37. (June 1979) Even when the Rockets missed a shot
during the 1978-79 season, chances were good they were still going
to score on that trip down the floor. Moses Malone kept the
Rockets' scoring up by setting an NBA record for offensive rebounds
in a season (587). Once Malone got the ball he usually put it in
the basket, averaging 24.8 points while leading the league in
rebounding with 17.6 boards per game. For his efforts, Malone was
named the 1979 NBA MVP. "I remember he wanted to thank Calvin
(Murphy), Rudy (Tomjanovich) and the rest of his teammates for
missing all those shots," Rockets radio commentator Jim Foley
said.
38. (June 1, 1983) After one NBA championship and three
Atlantic Division titles in Boston, Bill Fitch decided he needed a
challenge. He found the biggest one in the NBA when he accepted the
head coaching position for the 14-68 Houston Rockets. Of course,
Fitch knew that Ralph Sampson was about to come aboard as the No. 1
pick in the 1983 NBA Draft. In five seasons with the Rockets, Fitch
compiled a 216-194 record and led the team to a Midwest Division
title and the 1986 NBA Finals.
39. (May 21, 1994) From Choke City to Clutch City to the
1994 Western Conference Finals. The Rockets completed their
comeback from an 0-2 deficit in the Western Conference Semifinals
by winning Game 7 104-94 over the Phoenix Suns. "I'm so proud of
this team, especially with the gigantic hole that we had to crawl
out of," Rockets Head Coach Rudy Tomjanovich said. "This team has
done it all year long." Hakeem Olajuwon led Houston with 37 points
and 17 rebounds followed by rookie Sam Cassell with 22 points and
seven assists.
40. (June 28, 1983) The Rockets' selection of Ralph
Sampson with the No. 1 pick in the 1983 NBA Draft didn't shock
anyone. That would come later with the third pick. Houston grabbed
the All-American Sampson with its first pick, 20 seconds after the
draft began. The Rockets then took Louisville forward Rodney McCray
at No. 3 even though he had averaged less than 10 points over his
collegiate career. "I put the NBA and the draft out of my mind last
season," McCray said. "I just concentrated on being a team player."
The Rockets liked his team-first attitude and the way he scored at
the postseason all-star games enough to use the draft pick they
received in the Moses Malone trade with Philadelphia on him.
41. (Feb. 18, 1992) When he was first offered the
position of interim head coach of the Rockets, Rudy Tomjanovich
didn't want it. Fellow assistant coach Carroll Dawson's health
problems prevented him from taking over, so the job was offered to
Rudy T. "I really loved being an assistant coach," he said. "I
didn't want the spotlight." But then Dawson helped change his mind.
"Carroll told me, 'If you don't take it, they could bring in a
whole new staff and we might not even have a job.' " He then
accepted the interim position and led the Rockets to a 16-14 record
over the last 30 games of the 1991-92 season.
42. (July 30, 1993) Leslie
Alexander let it be known right away that he was going to be a
different type of owner. At a press conference to announce that he
had just purchased the Houston Rockets, Alexander said he "would
like to be the most charitable owner in the league," and he wanted
to upgrade the team immediately. Since then, Alexander has made
sure that the Rockets give back to the community. The Rockets'
Clutch City Foundation has donated nearly $5 million to charities
in the Houston area since it was founded in 1995. He has also kept
up his promise of constantly trying to build a better basketball
team. "He has always been supportive of everything we've done,"
Rockets Head Coach Rudy Tomjanovich said.
43. (May 25, 1994) After being presented with the 1994
NBA MVP trophy before Game 2 of the 1994 Western Conference Finals,
Hakeem Olajuwon wanted to make sure that people understood that
others had a lot to do with his success. He asked his teammates and
coaches to join him at midcourt as he made his acceptance speech.
"As you know, this is a team sport," he said, "so I would like to
extend my gratitude to my teammates. And also my coaches." Olajuwon
was voted the league's Most Valuable Player after averaging 27.3
points and 11.9 rebounds.
44. (June 7, 1995) As soon as Kenny
Smith saw he was open, he knew he was about to send Game 1 of the
1995 NBA Finals to overtime. With 5.6 seconds left in the game and
the Rockets trailing 110-107 to the Orlando Magic, Smith hit one of
the biggest shots in Rockets history. "I got the ball, dribbled a
little, then faked Penny (Anfernee Hardaway)," Smith said. "When I
saw the basket, I knew I was going to make the shot." Smith drilled
his NBA Finals-record seventh three-pointer to tie the game at 110
with 1.6 seconds left in regulation. The Rockets ended up winning
the game 120-118 in overtime after trailing by as many as 20 points
in the second quarter.
45. (May 16, 1995) Bill Worrell could tell something was
wrong with Clyde Drexler the minute he saw him. "I've never seen an
individual that sick in my life," the Rockets' television
commentator said. Suffering from a bad case of the flu, Drexler
made it to the arena 30 minutes before game time and put on his
uniform. The Rockets, trailing 3-1 to Phoenix in the 1995 Western
Conference Semifinals, were amazed that Drexler was going to play.
He didn't play his usual amount of minutes, but Houston got 31
points from Hakeem Olajuwon to claim a 103-97 overtime win in Game
5 of the series.
46. (March 29, 1981) On the last day of the 1980-81
season, there were no bigger fans of the Seattle SuperSonics than
the Houston Rockets. After winning four out of its last five games,
Houston still needed Seattle to beat Golden State in order to make
the playoffs. The Sonics won and the Rockets squeaked into the
postseason, eventually reaching the 1981 NBA Finals.
47. (1993-94) After tying for the
best start in NBA history, the Rockets finished the 1993-94 season
with the franchise's best record ever. Houston used a 15-0 start to
catapult itself to the top of the Midwest Division, finishing with
a 58-24 record. That mark topped the team's previous best of 55-27
in the 1992-93 season.
48. (March 29, 1990) Quadruple the performance. Quadruple
the fun. Against the Milwaukee Bucks, Hakeem Olajuwon became the
third person in NBA history to register a quadruple-double by
finishing the night with 18 points, 16 rebounds, 10 assists and 11
blocked shots. "It's a very big accomplishment for me," Olajuwon
said. "I believe I'm a complete player." There would have been no
arguing that point if he had stopped at halftime when he had 16
points, 10 rebounds, six blocks and four assists. A Lewis Lloyd
jumper with 2:50 to play gave Olajuwon his 10th assist of the night
to complete the milestone.
49. (May 13, 1994) Down by 12
points at halftime in Game 3 of the 1994 Western Conference
Semifinals, Vernon Maxwell turned the Rockets into road warriors.
After losing the first two games of the series to the Suns at home,
Maxwell made sure Houston wouldn't go down 0-3 in Phoenix by
scoring 31 second-half points to lead the Rockets to a 118-102 win.
"We are back," Rockets Head Coach Rudy Tomjanovich said. "Phoenix
still has home-court advantage, but the pressure is on them now.
And it's a lot different playing when you're under pressure."
50. (March 18, 1978) Calvin Murphy scored 32 points in
the first half and then got even hotter in the fourth quarter.
Murphy scored the Rockets' last 17 points to give him a team-record
57 points for the game, but the New Jersey Nets were still able to
grab a 106-104 win. Murphy finished the game 24-of-40 from the
field and 9-of-12 from the free throw line.
51. (May 8, 1993 - May 20, 1995) Phoenix Suns guard Kevin
Johnson warned his teammates that the 1995 Western Conference
Semifinals weren't over even though they had just taken a 3-1 lead
over the Houston Rockets. "The heart of a champion doesn't die
easily," he said. "In fact it doesn't die at all. You've got to
find a way to snuff it out." Houston's heart proved to be too
strong for Phoenix as the Rockets won three straight games to win
the series and run their consecutive streak of elimination game
victories to eight. In fact, from 1993 to 1995, Houston had a 10-1
record in elimination games with the only loss coming in overtime
at Seattle in 1993. "We just felt, if our opponent took a shot to
win the game, and even if it looked like it was going to go in the
net, it still wasn't over," Rockets Head Coach Rudy Tomjanovich
said. "We felt that a draft was going to come and blow it off
course. We just never gave up."
52. (May 14, 1993) It came to no one's surprise that
Hakeem Olajuwon was named 1993 NBA Defensive Player of the Year. He
led the league in blocked shots (4.17 per game) and was the leader
of a Rockets defense that finished third in the NBA in points
allowed and field-goal percentage. "It's a big honor," he said.
"It's something you take pride in because not everybody likes to
play defense."
53. (1980-81) It was a year of
streaks for Calvin Murphy. During the 1980-81 season, Murphy had
consecutive free throw streaks of 44, 78 and 29, making 151-of-154
free throws at one point. He ended up missing only nine-of-215 free
throw attempts all season, setting an NBA record for free throw
percentage (.958). "I think being 5-9 has made me the player I am,"
Murphy said. "It's forced me to work twice as hard to succeed,
since I know no one is going to give me anything."
54. (May 1, 1972) Ray Patterson didn't waste any time
changing the Rockets lineup. Two months after becoming the general
manager and president of the Rockets, he traded Elvin Hayes to the
Baltimore Bullets for Jack Marin. Patterson's deals over the next
four years helped bring the Rockets their first-ever division title
in the 1976-77 season, the same year he was named NBA Executive of
the Year. Patterson's tenure with the Rockets saw the acquisition
of Moses Malone and the drafting of John Lucas, Ralph Sampson and
Hakeem Olajuwon.
55. (May 14, 1987) The Seattle SuperSonics started out
double-teaming him. By the end of the night, it seemed the entire
Seattle team was trying to stop Hakeem Olajuwon. Nothing worked.
Olajuwon scored 49 points to set a Rockets playoff record, but the
Sonics were still able to win Game 6 of the 1987 Western Conference
Semifinals 128-125 in double overtime. "Of all the guys I've played
against in my career," 35-year-old Seattle center Maurice Lucas
said, "Hakeem was the most successful guy against a group defense
that I have ever seen."
56. (Sept. 15, 1982) Goodbye Moses.
Hello future. After matching the Philadelphia 76ers' offer to Moses
Malone, the Rockets decided to trade him to the 76ers for a chance
to get the No. 1 pick in the 1983 NBA Draft. In the deal, the
Rockets acquired center Caldwell Jones and a first-round draft pick
that the 76ers had obtained from the Cleveland Cavaliers, who had
finished with the worst record in the NBA the season before. The
Rockets ended up getting the No. 1 pick (Ralph Sampson) in the 1983
NBA Draft by virtue of finishing with the worst record in the
league and the No. 3 pick (Rodney McCray) from the trade
57. (March 3, 1998) Hakeem Olajuwon had a hard time
grasping that he had just broken Calvin Murphy's team record of
1,002 games played. "A thousand games? Wow," he said. "It's a
wonderful opportunity to play 1,000 games, especially with the same
team. That's quite an accomplishment." Olajuwon led the Rockets to
a 107-97 win over the Los Angeles Clippers in his 1,003rd game,
scoring 18 points and grabbing 15 rebounds.
58. (May 25, 1997) First there was
silence, then a swish followed by pandemonium. A sellout crowd
collectively held its breath as Rockets forward Eddie Johnson
launched a shot from four feet behind the three-point line as time
was running out in Game 4 of the 1997 Western Conference Finals.
The 92-92 tie and the quiet were soon broken as Johnson's prayer
hit nothing but net as the buzzer went off. "When it left my hand,
it felt good," he said. "When it got halfway there, I thought,
'That baby has a chance to go in.' " That baby gave the Rockets a
95-92 win over the Utah Jazz and sent Johnson and his teammates on
a dead sprint to the other end of the court in celebration.
59. (May 1984) It's unanimous. Ralph Sampson got all 76
first-place votes for 1984 NBA Rookie of the Year after averaging
21 points and 11 rebounds in his first season with the Rockets.
"Ralph has a lot of maturing to do because he still makes a lot of
errors, but he's going to be a great, great player," Rockets Head
Coach Bill Fitch said.
60. (Feb. 12, 1989) It's been billed as the World's
Greatest Playground Game and 44,735 people got to see it when the
39th NBA All-Star Game was played in the Astrodome in 1989. Utah's
Karl Malone was named the game's MVP as he led the West squad to a
143-134 victory over the East. Hakeem Olajuwon, who was the
Rockets' lone representative and the starting center for the
Western Conference, finished the game with 12 points, seven
rebounds and two blocks.
61. (June 5, 1986) Trailing 3-1 to
the Celtics in the 1986 NBA Finals, the Rockets came out fighting
for their playoff lives - literally. Early in the second quarter,
with Houston holding a 34-33 lead, Ralph Sampson broke free of a
Jerry Sichting hold and punched the Celtics guard twice. He then
leveled Boston point guard Dennis Johnson as both benches cleared.
The Rockets used the scuffle as an emotional lift to bury the
Celtics 111-96 as Houston fans continued to shout, "We want Ralph"
long after he had been tossed from the game. "I think our reaction
to Ralph's ejection was we knew we had to unite," Rockets forward
Jim Petersen said.
62. (April 26, 1981) Moses Malone missed 18 shots and
still was able to lead the Rockets one step closer to the 1981 NBA
Finals. Malone scored 42 points and grabbed 23 rebounds in
Houston's 100-89 win over Kansas City in Game 5 of the 1981 Western
Conference Finals. "We're asking Moses to be our top scorer, top
rebounder and still play super defense," Rockets Head Coach Del
Harris said. With the win, the Rockets took a 3-1 lead over the
Kings in the series.
63. (May 8, 1986) Hakeem Olajuwon was ejected in the
fourth quarter. Then Ralph Sampson and Jim Petersen fouled out in
the first overtime, leaving Rodney McCray to lead a makeshift
lineup to a 126-122 double-overtime win over Denver in Game 6 of
the 1986 Western Conference Semifinals. McCray was able to send the
game into the first overtime with a perfect alley-oop pass to
Sampson with 20 seconds left in the fourth quarter. After Sampson
and Petersen left, the Rockets were forced to go with third-string
center Granville Waiters, who contributed a key rebound and basket,
and a rotation of guards and small forwards. McCray, who finished
with 20 points, made big shot after big shot, including one with 55
seconds to go that clinched the win for the Rockets.
64. (March 17, 1984) As a player, Calvin Murphy gave
everything he had to the Rockets, and in return they made certain
no one would ever wear his No. 23 again. Murphy's No. 23 became the
second number ever retired by the Rockets when it joined Rudy
Tomjanovich's No. 45 in the rafters. Rockets forward Robert Reid
said Murphy's jersey would serve as an inspiration. "I think every
Rockets player who looks up at No. 23 from now on will think about
what competitive spirit means. There has never been a better
competitor than Murph."
65. (June 23, 1972) "I'm going to come back and haunt you
guys." That was center Elvin Hayes' message to the Rockets front
office after being traded to the Baltimore Bullets for Jack Marin
and future considerations. Marin spent two seasons with the
Rockets, averaging 15.6 points, while Hayes went on to be named to
the All-NBA First Team or Second Team six times after the
trade.
66. (April 29, 1995) The Rockets turned the Delta Center
into a bomb shelter for Game 2 of the First Round of the 1995 NBA
Playoffs. Houston hit an NBA playoff-record 19 three-pointers to
destroy Utah 140-126 and even up the series. Kenny Smith finished
the game with seven three-pointers, one short of the NBA playoff
record. The Rockets finished the night 19-of-28 from way downtown
and set NBA playoff marks for three-pointers in one half (11) and
in a quarter (seven).
67. (April 1986) The Rockets
started the 1985-86 season with John Lucas at point guard. Then
they started Allen Leavell after Lucas left the team, but the
promotion didn't last long thanks to a broken wrist 12 games later.
"After that, coach (Bill Fitch) came up to me," Robert Reid said.
"He told me I was his guy." Fitch made the right decision as the
6-7 Reid gave the Rockets a big lineup that led them to the 1986
NBA Finals.
68. (Oct. 11, 1988) Houston needed a power forward and
they went out and got the best one available. The Rockets acquired
Otis Thorpe, who had averaged 20.8 points and 10.2 rebounds the
prior season, from Sacramento for Rodney McCray and Jim Petersen.
Thorpe ended up playing seven seasons in Houston, averaging 15.8
points and 9.7 rebounds. He was also a key member of the Rockets'
1994 NBA title run.
69. (June 1976) John Lucas couldn't believe the Rockets
were going to use the No.1 pick in the 1976 NBA Draft to select
him. "My girlfriend said she had heard it and then the news media
starting coming around. I couldn't believe they were going to pick
me." It shouldn't have been a surprise to Lucas since the Rockets
had been talking about him since they traded with Atlanta to
acquire the pick. Lucas averaged 11.6 points and 7.3 assists in
four different stints with the Rockets.
70. (Feb. 18, 1999) Seven months after leading a team of
free agents and college and CBA players to the bronze medal in the
1998 World Championship of Basketball, Rockets Head Coach Rudy
Tomjanovich was named the head coach of the USA Basketball men's
senior national team. "The opportunity to represent our country in
international play is something very special," he said. Tomjanovich
missed the 1999 Americas Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Puerto
Rico because of exhaustion, but he will coach at the 2000 Summer
Olympics in Sydney, Australia.
71. (Jan. 28, 1982) Back in 1970, NBA players or their
wives cleaned their uniforms at home. When Sophie Tomjanovich took
her husband's uniform out of the wash for the first time, she
immediately noticed something was wrong. "I had never washed,
cooked or done household chores before," she said. "The uniform was
originally a beautiful, vivid green. When I finished washing it, it
looked like someone had thrown mud on it." Rudy T. got a clean
uniform the next day and for the next 11 years he wore one as a
member of the Rockets. After his retirement in 1981, the Rockets
decided that his No. 45 would be the first number retired to the
rafters.
72. (May 11, 1981) Moses Malone
felt that the Houston Rockets weren't getting any respect in the
1981 NBA Finals against the Boston Celtics, so he told everybody
about it. "I could take four guys off the streets of Petersburg,
Virginia (his hometown) and beat the Celtics." Boston didn't think
so. The Celtics used Malone's words to inspire them to victories in
Games 5 and 6, taking home the NBA championship. "I was just trying
to pump my guys up," Malone said later.
73. (May 22, 1995) Robert Horry was so wide-open that he
had time to choose between a three-pointer and a 17-foot jump shot.
He took the jumper and nailed his only field goal of the night with
6.5 seconds left to give the Rockets a 94-93 win over the San
Antonio Spurs in Game 1 of the 1995 Western Conference Finals. The
play was designed for Clyde Drexler on the block, but he passed out
of it to Mario Elie, who threw it to Hakeem Olajuwon. "I saw Robert
wide-open and gave him the ball," Olajuwon said. "He was our hero
for the first game."
74. (April 20, 1976) Tom Nissalke
wasn't the first head coach of the Rockets, but the franchise
accomplished several inaugural feats after he was hired. Taking
over before the 1976-77 season, Nissalke led the Rockets to their
first winning season, first division title and first trip to the
conference finals. In three seasons with the Rockets, Nissalke
compiled a 124-122 record.
75. (1976-77) In his first training camp, Rockets Head
Coach Tom Nissalke predicted his team would win between 38 and 40
games and squeeze into the playoffs. He was wrong. Houston made the
playoffs after capturing the 1976-77 Central Division, the first
division title for the franchise, with a team-record 49 wins.
76. (April 1, 1999) It was a shot he had hit a thousand
times before, but this one was special. On this night, Hakeem
Olajuwon took a pass from Scottie Pippen and hit a 13-foot jumper
over Utah's Greg Ostertag for the 25,000th point of his career.
With the basket, Olajuwon became the 12th player in NBA history to
reach the 25,000-point plateau.
77. (Nov. 2, 1996) Charles Barkley
didn't get mad; he got rebounds. Making his Rockets debut against
the team that had traded him three months before, Barkley grabbed a
career-high 33 rebounds in Houston's 110-95 win at Phoenix. "It was
an emotional game for me," he said. "I was upset because I wanted
to win so bad, and that's not really the way I want to play
basketball." But on this night it worked, as Barkley set a Rockets
record with 25 defensive rebounds.
78. ( Oct. 2, 1981) After 11 years with the Rockets, Rudy
Tomjanovich began to hear whispers that he was going to be traded
after an injury-plagued 1980-81 season. "I thought, 'This is
great,' because it was just what I needed to motivate me," he said.
"Then I came home and saw how comfortable my kids were in Houston.
I wondered why I had to prove myself again and move them." He and
the Rockets then reached a compromise on the last two years of his
contract and he was given a chance to help the team as a scout.
Tomjanovich retired as the Rockets' all-time leading rebounder and
second all-time leading scorer.
79. ( June 7-14, 1995) After
annihilating the Western Conference in the 1995 NBA Playoffs,
Hakeem Olajuwon decided to launch an offensive assault on the NBA
Finals record book. In the 1995 NBA Finals against the Orlando
Magic, Olajuwon set an NBA Finals record for a four-game series
with 131 points. He also set records for field goals (56) and field
goal attempts (116) and became only the fourth player to ever score
30 or more points in every game of a championship series.
80. (June 17, 1980) When Rockets Head Coach Del Harris
offered Carroll Dawson an assistant coaching position in 1979,
Dawson turned it down. When Harris came back with the same proposal
the next season, Dawson accepted and has been with the Rockets ever
since. He is the only person to coach on all four Rockets teams
that reached the NBA Finals and has taught the nuances of the "big
man" game to players such as Moses Malone and Hakeem Olajuwon. "CD
has helped me so much," Olajuwon said. "His desire and knowledge of
the game is all part of why he is such a great coach." Dawson is
currently in his 20th season with the Rockets and his fourth as
executive vice president of basketball.
81. (May 13, 1995) After losing the first two games of
the 1995 Western Conference Semifinals to Phoenix by an average of
23 points, the Houston Rockets turned in the largest playoff win in
franchise history. Hakeem Olajuwon led the Rockets with 36 points
and 11 rebounds before sitting down after the third quarter in
Houston's 118-85 Game 3 win. "If we play like this all the time,
we'll be champions again," Olajuwon said.
82. (April 19, 1998) On the day the Rockets celebrated
their 30th season in the NBA by naming an all-time team, they made
certain to highlight one of their all-time greats. Moses Malone
became the third player in Rockets history to have his number
retired when No. 24 was placed next to Rudy Tomjanovich's No. 45
and Calvin Murphy's No. 23. "Moses is one of the original pioneers
when it comes to this franchise being successful," Murphy said. "It
was just a matter of time before they put his number up there in
the rafters."
83. (April 4, 1986) Consider the
rebuilding done. Two years after having back-to-back No. 1 picks in
the NBA Draft, the Houston Rockets clinched the 1985-86 Midwest
Division title with a 112-89 win over the Phoenix Suns. Led by
Robert Reid's 20 points, the Rockets claimed the second division
title in their 18-year history and first since the 1976-77 season.
"We are the division champs," Hakeem Olajuwon said. "This is just
the start. We want to win it all." The Rockets finished the season
with a 51-31 record, the first 50-win season in franchise history.
84. (Feb. 9, 1979) He came. He saw. He cleaned the glass.
Moses Malone set a Rockets franchise record with 37 rebounds
against the New Orleans Jazz in a 106-99 win. Malone finished the
game with 19 offensive and 18 defensive rebounds. "The ball just
kept falling into my hands," he said. "Really, it was easy because
the ball kept bouncing toward me all night."
85. (June 24, 1992) The experts thought it would be
Harold Miner. The fans wanted it to be Harold Miner. So, when NBA
Commissioner David Stern walked to the podium and announced that
the Rockets had just taken Robert Horry with the 11th pick in the
1992 NBA Draft, there was shock, dismay and a loud chorus of boos.
"We draft people that we think are going to fit our system the
best," said Carroll Dawson, the Rockets executive vice president of
basketball. "If we drafted on public opinion, I don't think we
would be here very long." Horry turned out to be a key member of
the Rockets' back-to-back championship teams with his shooting and
defense.
88. (Feb. 11, 1982) After a while, it played like a
broken record. A Rockets player would miss a shot and Moses Malone
would be there again and again to grab the rebound. It happened so
often, Malone set an NBA record with 21 offensive rebounds on a
night he scored 38 points and pulled down 32 total rebounds in a
117-100 win over Seattle. "He's so dominant," Elvin Hayes said. "In
my opinion, he's the best offensive rebounder to ever play the
game."
90. (May 23, 1991) After Hakeem Olajuwon missed 25 games
with an eye injury, many people were expecting to see the Rockets
in the lottery. Instead, Rockets Head Coach Don Chaney was named
1991 NBA Coach of the Year for guiding the Rockets to a team-record
52 wins. In February, Chaney was named NBA Coach of the Month for
leading the Rockets to a 9-3 record without Olajuwon. In March, the
Rockets went 14-1 to make Chaney the first coach ever to win
back-to-back NBA Coach of the Month awards.
93. (April 12, 1975) The Rockets unveiled a new strategy
for the deciding game of the First Round of the 1975 NBA Playoffs
against the New York Knicks. Knick guards Walt Frazier and Earl
Monroe could score all they wanted; they just couldn't involve any
of their teammates in the offense. "We wanted to take Bill Bradley
out of the game," Rockets Head Coach John Egan said. "We can't lose
with Frazier and Monroe going one-on-one unless they score 60
points." They didn't and the Rockets won their first playoff series
in franchise history by defeating the Knicks 118-86. Rudy
Tomjanovich led the Rockets with 25 points.
94. (Aug. 2, 1993) One night in
1993, Rockets Head Coach Rudy Tomjanovich found himself watching a
Portland Trail Blazers game and saw a player he thought would fit
in perfectly with his team. Five months later, Mario Elie was in a
Houston uniform. He immediately started making a contribution with
his hard-nosed defense and timely shooting. Elie was a key member
of the Rockets' 1994 and 1995 championship teams, making the "Kiss
of Death" three-pointer to win Game 7 of the 1995 Western
Conference Semifinals against Phoenix.
96. (Nov. 2, 1975) After playing home games in the
Astrohall, Astrodome and Hofheinz Pavilion, and in such cities as
San Antonio, Waco and El Paso, the Rockets finally got a place to
call their own. The Rockets won the first game in The Summit (now
Compaq Center) 104-89 over Milwaukee as Rudy Tomjanovich scored 24
points in front of 7,142 people.
97. (June 9, 1995) The Orlando Magic had a difficult time
scoring in Game 2 of the 1995 NBA Finals because they kept throwing
the ball to Robert Horry. An NBA Finals-record seven times, in
fact. Horry's thievery helped lead the Rockets to a 117-106 victory
and a 2-0 lead in the series. "I kind of felt like I had a magnet
on my hands out there," Horry said. "I was fortunate to step into
the passing lanes, read their offense and play well."
98. (Jan. 26-Feb.23, 1982) Moses
Malone is hard to stop when he's just playing his regular game.
He's impossible to stop when he gets "in the zone." For 13 straight
games, no team could contain Malone as he scored 30 or more points
in each contest to set a Rockets record. During the streak, he set
another team record by scoring 40 or more points in three straight
games.
99. (April 25, 1993) The Rockets needed to beat the Spurs
to clinch the No. 2 seed in the 1993 Western Conference playoffs.
They should have won, but a blown call gave them a 119-117 loss and
home-court advantage for just the first round. The Rockets were
leading 109-107 in the fourth quarter, when David Robinson tipped
in a miss to send the game to overtime. Replays later showed the
tip was after time had expired. In the 1993 Western Conference
Semifinals, the Rockets lost 4-3 to the Seattle SuperSonics with
the home team winning every game. Several Rockets players pointed
to the San Antonio game as the inspiration for their 15-0 start to
the 1993-94 season.
All 100 Millennium Moments in Rockets History can be found in
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