1993–94 Houston Rockets season

1993–94 Houston Rockets season
NBA Champions
Conference Champions
Division Champions
Head coach	Rudy Tomjanovich
Owner(s)	Leslie Alexander
Arena	The Summit (Houston)
Results
Record	58–24 (.707)
Place	Division: 1st (Midwest) Conference: 2nd (Western)
Playoff finish	NBA Champions (Defeated Knicks 4-3)
Stats @ Basketball-Reference.com

The 1993–94 NBA season was the Houston Rockets' 27th season in the National Basketball Association, and their 23rd season in Houston.^[1] During the offseason, the Rockets acquired Mario Elie from the Portland Trail Blazers. The Rockets went off to a great start, winning their first fifteen games to tie the 1948–49 Washington Capitols for the best unbeaten record to open a season, before the Golden State Warriors surpassed it in 2015.^[2] After losing to the Atlanta Hawks on December 3, the Rockets won the next seven games as well, falling just one victory shy of tying the 1969–70 Knicks (23–1) for the best record with one defeat in NBA history.^[3] However, the Rockets would cool off as the season progressed, at one point losing four games in a row. Still, they finished first place in the Midwest Division with a 58–24 record.

Hakeem Olajuwon won the league's Most Valuable Player award, ahead of David Robinson of the San Antonio Spurs and Scottie Pippen of the Chicago Bulls.^[4] Anchoring one of the league's best defenses, Olajuwon also won the NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award for the second consecutive year, also beating out Robinson by a narrow 23 to 22 votes. He was also selected for the 1994 NBA All-Star Game.

In the playoffs, the Rockets defeated the Portland Trail Blazers 3–1 in the first round, then defeated the Phoenix Suns 4–3 in the semifinals, and the 5th-seeded Utah Jazz 4–1 in the Western Conference Finals. In the 1994 NBA Finals, they defeated the New York Knicks in seven games, and won their first championship in franchise history. It was the Rockets' third NBA finals appearance, after 1981 and 1986. Olajuwon was the only player of the 1985–86 Rockets to still be on the 1993–94 team.

The team's season roster is featured in the video games NBA 2K16 ^[5] and NBA 2K17.

Offseason

NBA draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	School or club team
1	24	Sam Cassell	Guard	United States	Florida State
2	46	Richard Petruška	Center	United States	UCLA
2	50	Marcelo Nicola	Forward	Argentina	Taugres (Spain)

Roster

Houston Rockets roster

Players

Coaches

Pos.	No.	Name	Height	Weight	DOB (YYYY-MM-DD)
1.0 !PG	1	USA !	Brooks, Scott	7000180340000000000♠5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)	165 lb (75 kg)	UC Irvine
4.5 !PF	50	USA !	Bullard, Matt	7000208279999999999♠6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	Iowa
1.0 !PG	10	USA !	Cassell, Sam	7000190500000000000♠6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Florida State
4.5 !PF	35	USA !	Cureton, Earl	7000205740000000000♠6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	Detroit
3.0 !SF	17	USA !	Elie, Mario	7000195580000000000♠6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	American International
4.5 !PF	7	USA !	Herrera, Carl	7000205740000000000♠6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	Houston
3.0 !SF	25	USA !	Horry, Robert	7000205740000000000♠6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	Alabama
3.0 !SF	21	USA !	Jent, Chris	7000200659999999999♠6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	Ohio State
2.0 !SG	11	USA !	Maxwell, Vernon	7000193040000000000♠6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Florida
6.0 !C	34	USA !	Olajuwon, Hakeem (C)	7000213360000000000♠7 ft 0 in (2.13 m)	255 lb (116 kg)	Houston
6.0 !C	3	SVK !	Petruska, Richard	7000208279999999999♠6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	260 lb (118 kg)	UCLA
6.0 !C	42	USA !	Riley, Eric	7000213360000000000♠7 ft 0 in (2.13 m)	245 lb (111 kg)	Michigan
2.0 !SG	20	USA !	Robinson, Larry	7000190500000000000♠6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	Centenary College of Louisiana
1.0 !PG	30	USA !	Smith, Kenny	7000190500000000000♠6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	North Carolina
4.5 !PF	33	USA !	Thorpe, Otis (C)	7000208279999999999♠6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	Providence

Head coach

Rudy Tomjanovich (Michigan)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(DP) Unsigned draft pick
(FA) Free agent
(S) Suspended
Injured

Roster

Depth chart

Pos.	Starting 5	Bench 1	Reserve	Inactive
C	Hakeem Olajuwon	Carl Herrera		Eric Riley Richard Petruska
PF	Otis Thorpe	Matt Bullard	Earl Cureton
SF	Robert Horry	Mario Elie	Chris Jent
SG	Vernon Maxwell	Sam Cassell		Larry Robinson
PG	Kenny Smith	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

#	Western Conference
#	Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1	z-Seattle SuperSonics	63	19	.768	–
2	y-Houston Rockets	58	24	.707	5
3	x-Phoenix Suns	56	26	.683	7
4	x-San Antonio Spurs	55	27	.671	8
5	x-Utah Jazz	53	29	.646	10
6	x- Golden State Warriors	50	32	.610	13
7	x-Portland Trail Blazers	47	35	.573	16
8	x-Denver Nuggets	42	40	.512	21

9	Los Angeles Lakers	33	49	.402	30
10	Sacramento Kings	28	54	.341	35
11	Los Angeles Clippers	27	55	.329	36
12	Minnesota Timberwolves	20	62	.244	43
13	Dallas Mavericks	13	69	.159	50

Record vs. opponents

1993-94 NBA Records
Team	ATL	BOS	CHA	CHI	CLE	DAL	DEN	DET	GSW	HOU	IND	LAC	LAL	MIA	MIL	MIN	NJN	NYK	ORL	PHI	PHO	POR	SAC	SAS	SEA	UTA	WAS
Atlanta	—	4–0	4–1	2–3	3–1	2–0	1–1	4–0	0–2	1–1	3–2	1–1	1–1	3–1	5–0	2–0	1–3	2–2	3–1	4–0	1–1	1–1	2–0	1–1	1–1	1–1	4–0
Boston	0–4	—	0–4	2–2	1–3	2–0	1–1	3–1	1–1	1–1	0–4	1–1	1–1	2–3	3–1	1–1	1–4	0–4	2–2	4–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	0–2	0–2	0–2	3–2
Charlotte	1–4	4–0	—	1–4	1–4	1–1	1–1	4–0	0–2	1–1	2–2	1–1	2–0	1–3	3–2	2–0	2–2	3–1	2–2	3–1	2–0	0–2	1–1	0–2	0–2	1–1	2–2
Chicago	3–2	2–2	4–1	—	1–3	2–0	1–1	5–0	2–0	1–1	4–1	2–0	1–1	2–2	4–0	2–0	3–1	1–3	2–2	3–1	1–1	0–2	1–1	1–1	1–1	2–0	4–0
Cleveland	1–3	3–1	4–1	3–1	—	2–0	1–1	3–2	2–0	0–2	2–3	2–0	1–1	1–3	3–2	2–0	2–2	0–4	2–2	4–0	0–2	2–0	2–0	0–2	1–1	1–1	3–1
Dallas	0–2	0–2	1–1	0–2	0–2	—	1–4	1–1	0–4	1–4	0–2	0–4	0–4	0–2	0–2	5–1	0–2	0–2	0–2	0–2	0–4	1–3	2–2	0–5	0–4	0–5	1–1
Denver	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	4–1	—	2–0	1–3	3–2	1–1	3–1	3–1	1–1	2–0	4–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	0–2	1–3	1–3	2–2	2–4	2–2	1–4	1–1
Detroit	0–4	1–3	0–4	0–5	2–3	1–1	0–2	—	0–2	0–2	1–4	1–1	0–2	2–2	1–4	2–0	1–3	0–4	1–3	1–3	1–1	0–2	1–1	1–1	1–1	0–2	2–2
Golden State	2–0	1–1	2–0	0–2	0–2	4–0	3–1	2–0	—	0–4	1–1	4–1	5–0	2–0	2–0	2–2	0–2	1–1	1–1	1–1	2–3	3–2	4–1	2–2	1–4	3–1	2–0
Houston	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	2–0	4–1	2–3	2–0	4–0	—	1–1	4–0	3–1	2–0	1–1	4–1	2–0	2–0	1–1	2–0	2–2	4–0	4–0	2–3	2–2	3–3	1–1
Indiana	2–3	4–0	2–2	1–4	3–2	2–0	1–1	4–1	1–1	1–1	—	2–0	0–2	3–1	3–1	2–0	3–1	0–4	2–2	2–2	1–1	1–1	2–0	0–2	1–1	1–1	3–1
L.A. Clippers	1–1	1–1	1–1	0–2	0–2	4–0	1–3	1–1	1–4	0–4	0–2	—	2–3	1–1	1–1	1–3	1–1	0–2	1–1	1–1	0–5	2–3	3–2	1–3	1–4	1–3	1–1
L.A. Lakers	1–1	1–1	0–2	1–1	1–1	4–0	1–3	2–0	0–5	1–3	2–0	3–2	—	1–1	2–0	3–1	0–2	0–2	2–0	1–1	3–2	0–5	1–4	0–4	0–5	2–2	1–1
Miami	1–3	3–2	3–1	2–2	3–1	2–0	1–1	2–2	0–2	0–2	1–3	1–1	1–1	—	4–0	2–0	2–3	2–2	2–3	4–1	0–2	0–2	1–1	0–2	1–1	1–1	3–1
Milwaukee	0–5	1–3	2–3	0–4	2–3	2–0	0–2	4–1	0–2	1–1	1–3	1–1	0–2	0–4	—	0–2	1–3	0–4	1–3	1–3	0–2	1–1	1–1	0–2	0–2	0–2	1–3
Minnesota	0–2	1–1	0–2	0–2	0–2	1–5	1–4	0–2	2–2	1–4	0–2	3–1	1–3	0–2	2–0	—	1–1	0–2	1–1	2–0	0–4	0–4	2–2	1–4	0–4	1–4	0–2
New Jersey	3–1	4–1	2–2	1–3	2–2	2–0	1–1	3–1	2–0	0–2	1–3	1–1	2–0	3–2	3–1	1–1	—	4–1	0–5	3–1	0–2	0–2	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	3–1
New York	2–2	4–0	1–3	3–1	4–0	2–0	1–1	4–0	1–1	0–2	4–0	2–0	2–0	2–2	4–0	2–0	1–4	—	3–2	3–2	1–1	2–0	2–0	1–1	1–1	0–2	5–0
Orlando	1–3	2–2	2–2	2–2	2–2	2–0	1–1	3–1	1–1	1–1	2–2	1–1	0–2	3–2	3–1	1–1	5–0	2–3	—	4–0	1–1	2–0	2–0	0–2	1–1	2–0	4–1
Philadelphia	0–4	1–4	1–3	1–3	0–4	2–0	2–0	3–1	1–1	0–2	2–2	1–1	1–1	1–4	3–1	0–2	1–3	2–3	0–4	—	0–2	0–2	0–2	0–2	0–2	1–1	2–3
Phoenix	1–1	1–1	0–2	1–1	2–0	4–0	3–1	1–1	3–2	2–2	1–1	5–0	2–3	2–0	2–0	4–0	2–0	1–1	1–1	2–0	—	3–2	4–1	3–1	2–3	2–2	2–0
Portland	1–1	1–1	2–0	2–0	0–2	3–1	3–1	2–0	2–3	0–4	1–1	3–2	5–0	2–0	1–1	4–0	2–0	0–2	0–2	2–0	2–3	—	4–1	1–3	1–4	1–3	2–0
Sacramento	0–2	1–1	1–1	1–1	0–2	2–2	2–2	1–1	1–4	0–4	0–2	2–3	4–1	1–1	1–1	2–2	1–1	0–2	0–2	2–0	1–4	1–4	—	1–3	0–5	1–3	2–0
San Antonio	1–1	2–0	2–0	1–1	2–0	5–0	4–2	1–1	2–2	3–2	2–0	3–1	4–0	2–0	2–0	4–1	1–1	1–1	2–0	2–0	1–3	3–1	3–1	—	0–4	0–5	2–0
Seattle	1–1	2–0	2–0	1–1	1–1	4–0	2–2	1–1	4–1	2–2	1–1	4–1	5–0	1–1	2–0	4–0	1–1	1–1	1–1	2–0	3–2	4–1	5–0	4–0	—	3–1	2–0
Utah	1–1	2–0	1–1	0–2	1–1	5–0	4–1	2–0	1–3	3–3	1–1	3–1	2–2	1–1	2–0	4–1	1–1	2–0	0–2	1–1	2–2	3–1	3–1	5–0	1–3	—	2–0
Washington	0–4	2–3	2–2	0–4	1–3	1–1	1–1	2–2	0–2	1–1	1–3	1–1	1–1	1–3	3–1	2–0	1–3	0–5	1–4	3–2	0–2	0–2	0–2	0–2	0–2	0–2	—

Player statistics

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
Brooks, Scott !Scott Brooks	73	0	16.8	.491	.377	.871	1.4	2.0	.70	.03	5.2
Bullard, Matt !Matt Bullard	65	0	11.2	.345	.325	.769	1.3	1.0	.22	.09	3.5
Cassell, Sam !Sam Cassell	66	6	17.0	.418	.295	.841	2.0	2.9	.89	.11	6.7
Cureton, Earl !Earl Cureton	2	0	15.0	.250	.000	.000	6.0	.0	.00	.00	2.0
Elie, Mario !Mario Elie	67	8	24.0	.446	.335	.860	2.7	3.1	.75	.12	9.3
Herrera, Carl !Carl Herrera	75	0	17.2	.458	.000	.711	3.8	.5	.43	.35	4.7
Horry, Robert !Robert Horry	81	81	29.3	.459	.324	.732	5.4	2.9	1.47	.93	9.9
Jent, Chris !Chris Jent	3	0	26.0	.500	.364	.500	5.0	2.3	.00	.00	10.3
Maxwell, Vernon !Vernon Maxwell	75	73	34.3	.389	.298	.749	3.1	5.1	1.67	.27	13.6
Olajuwon, Hakeem !Hakeem Olajuwon	80	80	41.0	.528	.421	.716	11.9	3.6	1.60	3.71	27.3
Petruska, Richard !Richard Petruška	22	0	4.2	.435	.467	.750	1.4	.0	.09	.14	2.4
Riley, Eric !Eric Riley	47	2	4.7	.486	.000	.541	1.3	.2	.11	.19	1.9
Robinson, Larry !Larry Robinson	6	0	9.2	.500	.250	.375	1.7	1.0	1.17	.00	4.2
Smith, Kenny !Kenny Smith	78	78	28.3	.480	.405	.871	1.8	4.2	.76	.05	11.6
Thorpe, Otis !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
Brooks, Scott !Scott Brooks	5	0	4.6	.833	1.000	.000	.4	.6	.00	.00	2.2
Bullard, Matt !Matt Bullard	10	0	5.5	.211	.200	.750	1.0	.0	.10	.20	1.6
Cassell, Sam !Sam Cassell	22	0	21.7	.394	.378	.865	2.7	4.2	.95	.23	9.4
Cureton, Earl !Earl Cureton	10	0	10.0	.800	.000	1.000	2.9	.2	.10	.20	1.8
Elie, Mario !Mario Elie	23	0	16.6	.396	.313	.851	1.7	1.7	.35	.13	5.8
Herrera, Carl !Carl Herrera	16	0	15.5	.534	.000	.813	2.8	.2	.31	.19	4.7
Horry, Robert !Robert Horry	23	23	33.8	.434	.382	.765	6.1	3.6	1.52	.87	11.7
Jent, Chris !Chris Jent	11	0	5.6	.250	.231	.000	.8	.6	.18	.00	1.2
Maxwell, Vernon !Vernon Maxwell	23	23	38.3	.376	.326	.685	3.5	4.2	.87	.09	13.8
Olajuwon, Hakeem !Hakeem Olajuwon	23	23	43.0	.519	.500	.795	11.0	4.3	1.74	4.00	28.9
Smith, Kenny !Kenny Smith	23	23	30.3	.455	.447	.808	2.3	4.1	.96	.17	10.8
Thorpe, Otis !Otis Thorpe	23	23	37.1	.572	.500	.567	9.9	2.3	.57	.43	11.3

Playoffs

Western Conference first round

(2) Houston Rockets vs. (7) Portland Trail Blazers: Rockets win series 3–1

Game 1 @ The Summit, Houston (April 29): Houston 115, Portland 104
Game 2 @ The Summit, Houston (May 1): Houston 114, Portland 104
Game 3 @ Memorial Coliseum, Portland (May 3): Portland 118, Houston 115
Game 4 @ Memorial Coliseum, Portland (May 6): Houston 92, Portland 89

Last playoff meeting: 1987 Western Conference First Round (Houston won 3–1)

West Conference Semifinals

(2) Houston Rockets vs. (3) Phoenix Suns: Rockets win series 4–3

Game 1 @ The Summit, Houston (May 8): Phoenix 91, Houston 87
Game 2 @ The Summit, Houston (May 11): Phoenix 124, Houston 117 (OT)
Game 3 @ America West Arena, Phoenix (May 13): Houston 118, Phoenix 102
Game 4 @ America West Arena, Phoenix (May 15): Houston 107, Phoenix 96
Game 5 @ The Summit, Houston (May 17): Houston 109, Phoenix 86
Game 6 @ America West Arena, Phoenix (May 19): Phoenix 103, Houston 89
Game 7 @ The Summit, Houston (May 21): Houston 104, Phoenix 94

Last playoff meeting: This was the first meeting between the Rockets and Suns.

West Conference Finals

(2) Houston Rockets vs. (5) Utah Jazz: Rockets win series 4–1

Game 1 @ The Summit, Houston (May 23): Houston 100, Utah 88
Game 2 @ The Summit, Houston (May 25): Houston 104, Utah 99
Game 3 @ Delta Center, Salt Lake City (May 27): Utah 95, Houston 86
Game 4 @ Delta Center, Salt Lake City (May 29): Houston 80, Utah 78
Game 5 @ The Summit, Houston (May 31): Houston 94, Utah 83

Last playoff meeting: 1985 Western Conference first round (Utah won 3–2)

NBA finals

1994 NBA Finals roster

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

Interruption of Game 5 telecast by O. J. Simpson car chase

During Game 5 (June 17, 1994), most NBC affiliates (with the noted exception being WNBC-TV out of New York City) 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

References

↑ 1993–94 Houston Rockets
↑ "Knicks Are All Talk but No Action Versus Rockets". New York Times. December 3, 1993.
↑ "Buzzer-Beating Shot Makes Rockets 22-1". New York Times. December 22, 1993.
↑ "Rockets' Olajuwon Named Most Valuable Player". New York Times. May 25, 1994.
↑ Lelinwalla, Mark (September 11, 2015). "'NBA 2K16': All The Classic Teams Announced". Tech Times. Retrieved April 16, 2016.

External links

Rockets on Basketball Reference

1993–94 NBA season by team

Eastern

Atlantic	Boston Miami New Jersey New York Orlando Philadelphia Washington
Central	Atlanta Charlotte Chicago Cleveland Detroit Indiana Milwaukee

Western

Midwest	Dallas Denver Houston Minnesota San Antonio Utah
Pacific	Golden State L.A. Clippers L.A. Lakers Phoenix Portland Sacramento Seattle

Houston Rockets 1993–94 NBA champions
1 Scott Brooks 3 Richard Petruška 7 Carl Herrera 10 Sam Cassell 11 Vernon Maxwell 17 Mario Elie 20 Larry Robinson 21 Chris Jent 25 Robert Horry 30 Kenny Smith 33 Otis Thorpe 34 Hakeem Olajuwon (Finals MVP) 35 Earl Cureton 42 Eric Riley 50 Matt Bullard
Head coach Rudy Tomjanovich
Assistant coaches Bill Berry Jim Boylen Carroll Dawson Larry Smith
Regular season Playoffs

NBA champions

Houston Rockets
Founded in 1967 Played in San Diego (1967–1971) Based in Houston, Texas
Franchise	Franchise History Expansion Draft All-time roster Seasons Records Draft history Head coaches Current season
Arenas	San Diego Sports Arena Hofheinz Pavilion HemisFair Arena The Summit/Compaq Center Toyota Center
Culture and lore	Red Rowdies Clutch City Clutch the Rockets Bear The Clock Incident 13 points in 35 seconds The Kiss of Death The Dream Shake 22 in a row Arrest of O. J. Simpson The Punch Game 6 The Twin Towers
NBA Championships (2)	1994 1995
Western Conference Championships (4)	1981 1986 1994 1995
Administration	Owner Leslie Alexander General Manager Daryl Morey Head Coach Mike D'Antoni
Retired numbers	11 22 23 24 34 45 CD
Most Valuable Players	Moses Malone Hakeem Olajuwon
Hall of Famers	Charles Barkley Rick Barry Clyde Drexler Elvin Hayes Moses Malone Calvin Murphy Dikembe Mutombo Hakeem Olajuwon Scottie Pippen Ralph Sampson Yao Ming
G League affiliate	Rio Grande Valley Vipers
Rivals	San Antonio Spurs Dallas Mavericks Utah Jazz
Media	TV AT&T SportsNet Southwest Radio Sportstalk 790 Announcers Bill Worrell Clyde Drexler Matt Bullard Craig Ackerman

San Diego / Houston Rockets seasons

1960s

1970s

1980s

1990s

1993–94

1994–95

2000s

2010s

Bold indicates NBA Finals victory

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.