1980–81 Houston Rockets season

1980–81 Houston Rockets season
Western Conference Champions
Head coach Del Harris
Arena The Summit
Results
Record 40–42 (.488)
Place Division: 2nd (Midwest)
Conference: 5th (Western)
Playoff finish NBA Finals
(Eliminated 2-4)
Stats @ Basketball-Reference.com
Houston Rockets seasons
< 1979–80 1981–82 >

The 1980–81 Houston Rockets season saw the Rockets lose the NBA Finals.

Contents:

Offseason

Draft picks

Round Pick Player Position Nationality College
2 27 John Stroud  United States Mississippi

[1]

Roster

Depth chart

Pos. Starter Bench Reserve Inactive
C Moses Malone Bill Willoughby
PF Billy Paultz Major Jones
SF Robert Reid Calvin Garrett Rudy Tomjanovich
John Stroud
SG Mike Dunleavy Allen Leavell
PG Tom Henderson Calvin Murphy

Regular season

In the 1980-81 season, after the newly-established Dallas Mavericks became the third NBA team in Texas,[2] the NBA restructured the conferences and sent the Rockets, who had previously played in the Eastern Conference, to the Midwest Division of the Western Conference. In Harris's second season, Houston tied with Kansas City for second place in the Midwest Division behind San Antonio with a 40-42 record, and qualified for the playoffs with just one game left.[3] During the season, Murphy set two NBA records, by sinking 78 consecutive free throws to break Rick Barry's mark of 60 set in 1976, and achieving a free-throw percentage of .958, breaking Barry's record set with the Rockets in 1979.[4]

Season standings

Midwest Division W L PCT GB Home Road Div
y-San Antonio Spurs 52 30 .634 – 34–7 18–23 21–9
x-Houston Rockets 40 42 .488 12.0 25–16 15–26 19–11
x-Kansas City Kings 40 42 .488 12.0 24–17 16–25 19–11
Denver Nuggets 37 45 .451 15.0 23–18 14–27 13–17
Utah Jazz 28 54 .341 24.0 20–21 8–33 13–17
Dallas Mavericks 15 67 .183 37.0 11–30 4–37 5–25

Game log

Playoffs

NBA Finals

Game Date Home Team Away Team Score
1 May 5 Boston Celtics Houston Rockets 98-95
2 May 7 Boston Celtics Houston Rockets 90-92
3 May 9 Houston Rockets Boston Celtics 71-94
4 May 10 Houston Rockets Boston Celtics 91-86
5 May 12 Boston Celtics Houston Rockets 109-80
6 May 14 Houston Rockets Boston Celtics 91-102

Player statistics

Legend

Season

Player GP GS MPG FG% 3FG% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
Moses Malone 80 40.6 1.9 27.8
Calvin Murphy 76 26.5 0.1 16.7
Robert Reid 82 36.1 0.8 15.9
Rudy Tomjanovich 52 24.3 0.1 11.6
Mike Dunleavy 74 21.7 0.0 10.5
Allen Leavell 79 21.3 0.2 8.1

[5]

Playoffs

Awards and records

Awards

Records

Transactions

Trades

Free Agents

Additions

Player Signed Former team

Subtractions

Player Left New team

References

  1. ^ http://www.databasebasketball.com/draft/draftyear.htm?lg=N&yr=1980
  2. ^ "Mavs History". NBA.com. http://www.nba.com/mavericks/history/00400544.html#2. Retrieved 2008-05-30. 
  3. ^ "1980-81 Houston Rockets". Basketball-Reference.com. http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/HOU/1981.html. Retrieved 2008-05-30. 
  4. ^ "NBA.com Calvin Murphy Bio". NBA. http://www.nba.com/history/players/murphy_bio.html. Retrieved 2009-02-18. 
  5. ^ http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/HOU/1981.html

See also

Eastern
Boston • New Jersey • New York • Philadelphia • Washington
Atlanta • Chicago • Cleveland • Detroit • Indiana • Milwaukee
Western
Dallas • Denver • Houston • Kansas City • San Antonio • Utah
Golden State • Los Angeles • Phoenix • Portland • San Diego • Seattle
Formerly the San Diego Rockets • Founded in 1967 • Based in Houston, Texas
The Franchise
Arenas
Culture and Lore
Head Coaches
McMahon • Hannum • Winter • Egan • Nissalke • Harris • Fitch • Chaney • Tomjanovich • Van Gundy • Adelman • McHale
NBA Championships (2)
1994 • 1995
Western Conference
Titles (4)
1981 • 1986 • 1994 • 1995
Division Titles (4)
Administration
Owner: Leslie Alexander • General Manager: Daryl Morey • Head Coach: Kevin McHale
Retired Jerseys
22 • 23 • 24 • 34 • 45 • CD
Most Valuable Players
Hall of Famers
D-League Affiliate
Rivals
Media
TV
Radio
Announcers
Bill Worrell • Clyde Drexler • Matt Bullard • Craig Ackerman
1967–68 • 1968–69 • 1969–70 • 1970–71 • 1971–72 • 1972–73 • 1973–74 • 1974–75 • 1975–76 • 1976–77 • 1977–78 • 1978–79 • 1979–80 • 1980–81 • 1981–82 • 1982–83 • 1983–84 • 1984–85 • 1985–86 • 1986–87 • 1987–88 • 1988–89 • 1989–90 • 1990–91 • 1991–92 • 1992–93 • 1993–94 • 1994–95 • 1995–96 • 1996–97 • 1997–98 • 1998–99 • 1999–00 • 2000–01 • 2001–02 • 2002–03 • 2003–04 • 2004–05 • 2005–06 • 2006–07 • 2007–08 • 2008–09 • 2009–10 • 2010–11 • 2011–12 •
Bold indicates NBA Finals victory