| Houston Rockets-San Antonio Spurs | |
|---|---|
| History | |
| 1st Meeting | November 27, 1976 |
| Last Meeting | March 31, 2010 |
| Next Meeting | TBA |
| Number of Meetings (Including Postseason) | 173 |
| Overall Series | 93–80 San Antonio |
| Post Season History | |
| Post Season Meetings | 6–3 (HOU) |
| 1980 Western Conference Quarterfinals | Rockets won, 2-1 |
| 1981 Western Conference Semifinals | Rockets won, 4-3 |
| 1995 Western Conference Finals | Rockets won, 4-2 |
The Rockets-Spurs or Spurs-Rockets rivalry is an ongoing series of encounters between two NBA teams: the Houston Rockets and the San Antonio Spurs. Also known as the I-10 Rivalry since both San Antonio and Houston lie on Interstate 10, it is one of the three NBA rivalries between teams from Texas.
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The rivalry began in 1976 when the Spurs moved from the ABA along with the Denver Nuggets, New York Nets, and Indiana Pacers. The Rockets and Spurs competed for the division title, with the Rockets winning it first in 1977 and the Spurs in 1978 and 1979. In 1980, they met in the playoffs for the first time as the Rockets led by Moses Malone and Calvin Murphy beat the Spurs led by George Gervin and James Silas 2-1. The rivalry grew intense as both teams moved from the Eastern Conference to the Western Conference. A year later they met again, this time in the second round. The Spurs had the home court advantage, and the Spurs were heavily favored winning the Midwest Division Title and the Rockets only 40-42. The Rockets and Spurs fought to the bitter end before the Rockets held on to win game 7 capped by Murphy's 42 points. The Rockets would advance to the Finals in a losing cause to the Boston Celtics. The rivalry sparkled in 1995 when the sixth-seeded Rockets led by Hakeem Olajuwon beat the top-seeded Spurs led by MVP David Robinson.
Even after Olajuwon was traded to the Toronto Raptors in 2001, he recalled the fond memories he had of playing against his old San Antonio rival, David Robinson.
"I think when I walk on to that court (at the Alamodome), maybe then it might hit me, all the games I played against San Antonio and the great rivalry we had,...I'm pretty sure David will be very surprised to see me wearing a new uniform. I'm sure it's going to be strange, but at the same time it will be very special. The memories, the competition, the rivalry. I am very much looking forward to it."
— Olajuwon, [1]
In the classic game 7 of the Western Conference Semi-Finals, the 40-42 Rockets were looking to upset the 52-30 Spurs to advance to the Western Conference Finals. Capped by Calvin Murphy's 42 points, the Rockets would defeat the Spurs to advance to the Conference Finals and defeated the likewise 40-42 Kansas City Kings, and moved on to the 1981 NBA Finals where they were finally defeated by Larry Bird's Boston Celtics. The Spurs would have to wait another 18 years to see a Finals berth and title.
In 1995 the Rockets were looking to win their second consecutive NBA Finals. Despite a slow start by the team, the sixth-seeded Rockets (47-35) managed to get through their first opponent, the third-seeded Utah Jazz (60-22) 3-2, and the second-seeded Phoenix Suns (59-23) 4-3. The Rockets would encounter the top seeded Spurs waiting (62-20) for them in the Conference finals. The Spurs had swept their first round opponent, the Denver Nuggets (41-41) before defeating the Lakers (48-34) in 6 games.
Olajuwon displayed perhaps the most impressive moments of his career when the Rockets faced the San Antonio Spurs in the Conference Finals. Recently crowned league MVP Robinson was outplayed by Olajuwon, 35–24 PPG. When asked later what a team could do to "solve" Olajuwon, Robinson told LIFE magazine: "Hakeem? You don't solve Hakeem."[2] The Rockets won every road game that series and beat the Spurs 4-2. The Rockets would go on to sweep the Orlando Magic in the NBA Finals 4-0, and secure their second championship. Thus far, the Rockets had won a division title, conference title and Championship before their rivals.
On December 9, 2004. After a long fought game in which the Spurs had mostly led (up by 10 points with less than a minute left) and the Rockets audience beginning to boo their own team; Tracy McGrady managed to score 13 points in 35 seconds, including a 3 with 1.7 seconds left to give the Rockets a 81-80 comeback win. The game ended a Rocket 7-game losing streak against the San Antonio Spurs.[3]
In 2008, the teams would meet for the first match on November 14 at the AT&T Center in San Antonio. The Spurs began the 2008 season with their worst record in franchise history (2-4), as a result of an injury to Manu Ginóbili at the 2008 Summer Olympics, and a sprained ankle to Tony Parker early in the season.[4] This was the first regular season game in which the newly acquired Ron Artest along with Tracy McGrady and Chinese center Yao Ming would face San Antonio. The Rockets led most of the game, going up by as many as 14 points with 7 minutes left.[5] Despite missing more than 40 points in scoring from their two injured guards, two time MVP Tim Duncan (22 pts) and Rookie George Hill (17 pts) would lead the Spur's comeback. The Spurs would finally take a lead (76-75) with 59 seconds left on a Tim Duncan Hook Shot.[5] Tim Duncan blocked a layup that would have given the Rockets the lead with less than 2 seconds left. After a missed Spurs free throw, the Rockets would get one last change to win but Artest missed on a three-point field goal as time expired giving San Antonio a 77-75 victory.[5]
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