1993–94 Houston Rockets season

1993–94 Houston Rockets season
First NBA Championship
Head coach Rudy Tomjanovich
Owner(s) Leslie Alexander
Arena Compaq Center
Results
Record 58–24 (.707)
Place Division: 1st (Midwest)
Conference: 2nd (Western)
Playoff finish NBA Champions
Stats @ Basketball-Reference.com
Houston Rockets seasons
< 1992–93 1994–95 >

The Houston Rockets won their first NBA title in franchise history. They defeated the New York Knicks in the 1994 NBA Finals to win the championship.

Contents

Offseason

NBA Draft

Round Pick Player Position Nationality School/Club Team
1 24 Sam Cassell Guard  United States Florida State
2 46 Richard Petruska Center  United States UCLA
2 50 Marcelo Nicola Forward  Argentina Taugres (Spain)

Roster

Depth chart

Pos. Starter Bench Reserve Inactive
C Hakeem Olajuwon Richard Petruška
Eric Riley
PF Otis Thorpe Matt Bullard Earl Cureton
SF Robert Horry Carl Herrera Chris Jent
SG Vernon Maxwell Mario Elie Larry Robinson
PG Kenny Smith Sam Cassell Scott Brooks

Regular season

Season standings

Midwest Division W L PCT GB Home Road Div
y-Houston Rockets 58 24 .707 — 35–6 23–18 15–11
x-San Antonio Spurs 55 27 .671 3 32–9 23–18 16–10
x-Utah Jazz 53 29 .646 5 33–8 20–21 21–5
x- Denver Nuggets 42 40 .512 16 28–13 14–27 14–12
Minnesota Timberwolves 20 62 .244 38 13–28 7–34 5–21
Dallas Mavericks 13 69 .159 45 6–35 7–34 7–19

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
Scott Brooks 73 0 16.8 .491 .377 .871 1.4 2.0 .70 .03 5.2
Matt Bullard 65 0 11.2 .345 .325 .769 1.3 1.0 .22 .09 3.5
Sam Cassell 66 6 17.0 .418 .295 .841 2.0 2.9 .89 .11 6.7
Earl Cureton 2 0 15.0 .250 .000 .000 6.0 .0 .00 .00 2.0
Mario Elie 67 8 24.0 .446 .335 .860 2.7 3.1 .75 .12 9.3
Carl Herrera 75 0 17.2 .458 .000 .711 3.8 .5 .43 .35 4.7
Robert Horry 81 81 29.3 .459 .324 .732 5.4 2.9 1.47 .93 9.9
Chris Jent 3 0 26.0 .500 .364 .500 5.0 2.3 .00 .00 10.3
Vernon Maxwell 75 73 34.3 .389 .298 .749 3.1 5.1 1.67 .27 13.6
Hakeem Olajuwon 80 80 41.0 .528 .421 .716 11.9 3.6 1.60 3.71 27.3
Richard Petruška 22 0 4.2 .435 .467 .750 1.4 .0 .09 .14 2.4
Eric Riley 47 2 4.7 .486 .000 .541 1.3 .2 .11 .19 1.9
Larry Robinson 6 0 9.2 .500 .250 .375 1.7 1.0 1.17 .00 4.2
Kenny Smith 78 78 28.3 .480 .405 .871 1.8 4.2 .76 .05 11.6
Otis Thorpe 82 82 35.5 .561 .000 .657 10.6 2.3 .80 .34 14.0

Playoffs

Player GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
Scott Brooks 5 4.6 .833 1.000 .000 .4 .6 .00 .00 2.2
Matt Bullard 10 5.5 .211 .200 .750 1.0 .0 .10 .20 1.6
Sam Cassell 22 21.7 .394 .378 .865 2.7 4.2 .95 .23 9.4
Earl Cureton 10 10.0 .800 .000 1.000 2.9 .2 .10 .20 1.8
Mario Elie 23 16.6 .396 .313 .851 1.7 1.7 .35 .13 5.8
Carl Herrera 16 15.5 .534 .000 .813 2.8 .2 .31 .19 4.7
Robert Horry 23 33.8 .434 .382 .765 6.1 3.6 1.52 .87 11.7
Chris Jent 11 5.6 .250 .231 .000 .8 .6 .18 .00 1.2
Vernon Maxwell 23 38.3 .376 .326 .685 3.5 4.2 .87 .09 13.8
Hakeem Olajuwon 23 43.0 .519 .500 .795 11.0 4.3 1.74 4.00 28.9
Kenny Smith 23 30.3 .455 .447 .808 2.3 4.1 .96 .17 10.8
Otis Thorpe 23 37.1 .572 .500 .567 9.9 2.3 .57 .43 11.3

NBA finals

1994 NBA Finals Roster

Head Coach: Rudy Tomjanovich
Hakeem Olajuwon | Otis Thorpe | Vernon Maxwell | Robert Horry | Mario Elie | Sam Cassell | Chris Jent | Carl Herrera | Scott Brooks | Larry Robinson | Matt Bullard | Richard Petruska | Earl Cureton | Eric Riley | Kenny Smith |

Series Summary

Game Date Home Team Result Road Team
Game 1 June 8 Houston 85-78 New York
Game 2 June 10 Houston 83-91 New York
Game 3 June 12 New York 89-93 Houston
Game 4 June 15 New York 91-82 Houston
Game 5 June 17 New York 91-84 Houston
Game 6 June 19 Houston 86-84 New York
Game 7 June 22 Houston 90-84 New York

Rockets win series 4-3

New York Rangers Win Stanley Cup

See also: 1994 Stanley Cup Finals

Game 4 (June 15, 1994) took place at Madison Square Garden with its corridors smelling of beer and champagne. Twenty-four hours before, the Garden hosted the New York Rangers first Stanley Cup celebration in 54 years, following their 3-2 win over the Vancouver Canucks in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals. By winning the NBA championship, the Rockets denied New York from having the distinction of having both NBA and NHL championships in the same year. Game 5 (June 17, 1994) took place on the same day as the parade down the Canyon of Heroes celebrating the Rangers' win. However, the players that were from the Pacific Northwest didn't watch the parade, as they would have rooted for the Canucks and would have wanted to see a rally in the atrium in Grouse Mountain, overlooking downtown Vancouver.[1]

The motivational assist for the Rockets was the way things to the Rangers' win ended: "The New York Rangers have done it here on a hot June night in New York! The Rangers are Stanley Cup Champions!"

Game 5 Telecast interrupted by O.J. Simpson car chase

See also: O. J. Simpson murder case

During Game 5 (June 17, 1994) most NBC affiliates (with the noted exception being WNBC-TV out of New York) split the coverage of the game between NFL Hall of Famer O.J. Simpson's slow speed freeway chase with the LAPD. At the time, Simpson had been an NFL analyst on NBC. A visibly confused and distraught Bob Costas (NBC's anchor for their NBA Finals coverage) said during the telecast from Madison Square Garden that the Simpson situation was "not just tragic but now surreal."

Award winners

NBA All-Star Game

References

  1. ^ Blinebury, Fran (2004-06-13). "BELIEVE IT: 10 YEARS LATER; 'The Times of Our Lives'". The Houston Chronicle: p. 1. 
1993 NBA Draft • All-Star Game • Playoffs • Finals • Transactions
Eastern
Boston • Miami • New Jersey • New York • Orlando • Philadelphia • Washington
Atlanta • Charlotte • Chicago • Cleveland • Detroit • Indiana • Milwaukee
Western
Dallas • Denver • Houston • Minnesota • San Antonio • Utah
Golden State • L.A. Clippers • L.A. Lakers • Phoenix • Portland • Sacramento • Seattle
Regular season • Playoffs

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Formerly the San Diego Rockets • Founded in 1967 • Based in Houston, Texas
The Franchise
Arenas
Culture and Lore
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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
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Bold indicates NBA Finals victory
Sports teams based in Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown
Baseball
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NFL: Houston Texans, SIFL: Houston Stallions, NAFL: Bay Area Gamblers • Houston Sharks • Montgomery County Bulls, WFA: Houston Power, IWFL: Houston Energy
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