1995 Overview
From Hoopedia
1994-95 NBA Season
The Houston Rockets entered the season as NBA champions yet something didn’t feel quite right.
Michael Jordan had retired abruptly in the fall of 1993, and the Rockets, led by Hakeem Olajuwon, went on to the NBA title in June 1994. The victory was sweet, but the Houston center and his teammates felt they didn’t get the respect due a champion since they won without Jordan around. So the Rockets figured the 1994-95 season would be an opportunity to establish their dominance.
By February, though, they had slipped into a funk and seemed to have little hope of repeating as champions. That’s when the franchise made the daring move of trading forward Otis Thorpe, a key starter on their 1994 team, to get Clyde Drexler from Portland.
The Rockets needed a revived running game, and the 6-7 Drexler was a strong finisher who had played at the University of Houston with Olajuwon. But the move created tension on the Houston roster, especially after the Rockets struggled to a 17-18 record over the last 35 games to finish just 47-35, good enough for only sixth seed in the Western Conference.
The Rockets’ travails went largely unnoticed, however, because in mid-March Jordan announced his abrupt return to the game after nearly two seasons away, part of which he spent playing minor league baseball. “I'm back,” he said.
The story created intense media interest in his reappearance in a Bulls uniform, with No. 45 on his new jersey (his old No. 23 had been retired), for the final 17 games of the regular season. The Bulls had struggled to stay above .500 through most of the season, and his presence provided an obvious lift for Chicago. Still, the Bulls earned only a fifth seed in the Eastern Conference.
In the first round, Chicago eliminated the Charlotte Hornets. But Jordan struggled in the next series, against Orlando with Shaquille O'Neal, Anfernee Hardaway and Horace Grant. In Game 1 in Orlando, Jordan committed two late turnovers that cost the Bulls the game. From there, he missed shots, made miscues and watched Grant’s play shift the balance in the series. At one point, Jordan donned his old jersey No. 23 to inspire a second win, but the Magic took over from there to claim the series, 4-2.
Orlando then eliminated the Indiana Pacers (who had eliminated the New York Knicks) in seven games in the Eastern Finals, sending Shaq and company to the league championship series for the first time.
Who should be there waiting but Olajuwon and his Rockets, who had made a magical playoff run of their own.
In the First Round of the playoffs, the Utah Jazz took a 2-1 lead, but Houston managed to tie it with a key home win as Drexler scored 41 and Olajuwon 40, then rallied in the fourth quarter to win Game 5 in Salt Lake City.
The Rockets moved on to the Western Conference Semifinals and dispatched Charles Barkley and the Phoenix Suns in similar wrenching fashion. Phoenix took a 3-1 series lead, but Houston again fought back and went on to take the final three games of the series, including a 115-114 win in Game 7 that had Olajuwon claiming, “This is a team of destiny.”
Next up were David Robinson's Spurs, who reached the Conference Finals for the first time in club history. Robinson had turned in an outstanding season and been voted the league MVP, yet the Spurs lost to the Rockets in a six-game series in which only one home team (Houston in Game 6) won a game.
The Magic had home-court advantage in the championship round, the benefit of their 57 regular-season wins. Orlando even bullied its way to a 57-37 second quarter lead in Game 1, before Houston’s Kenny Smith found his range and set a Finals record with seven three-pointers. After Nick Anderson missed four free throws late in regulation that would have won the game for Orlando, the Magic lost in overtime 120-118 on a putback by Olajuwon. Houston went on to win the next three games as well for a Finals sweep and a second consecutive championship.
“How sweet it is,” said Drexler, after the Rockets had become the first team to overcome the home-court advantage against four opponents and beat four 50-win teams en route to the title.
