1996–97 Houston Rockets season

The 1996–97 Houston Rockets season was the 30th season for the Houston Rockets in the National Basketball Association, and their 26th season in Houston, Texas.

Season summary

Off-season During the off-season, the Rockets acquired All-Star forward Charles Barkley from the Phoenix Suns, and signed free agents Kevin Willis, Brent Price, undrafted rookie point guard Matt Maloney, and re-signed former Rockets forward and three-point specialist Matt Bullard, who was a member of the championship team from the 1994 NBA Finals.

Regular season With the addition of Barkley, Willis and Maloney, the Rockets won their first six games of the regular season. The team posted a nine-game winning streak between November and December, and posted another six-game winning streak in December, leading to a 21–2 start to the season. However, the Rockets later on struggled posting a six-game losing streak between January and February, and held a 32–16 record at the All-Star break. At mid-season, the team signed free agents Eddie Johnson and Sedale Threatt. The Rockets posted another six-game winning streak in March, won 14 of their final 17 games of the season, and finished in second place in the Midwest Division with a 57–25 record, earning the third seed in the Western Conference; the team qualified for the NBA playoffs for the fifth consecutive year.

Hakeem Olajuwon averaged 23.2 points, 9.2 rebounds, 1.5 steals and 2.2 blocks per game, and was named to the All-NBA First Team, and to the NBA All-Defensive Second Team, while Barkley averaged 19.2 points, 13.5 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 1.3 steals per game, but only played 53 games due to ankle and hip injuries, and Clyde Drexler provided the team with 18.0 points, 6.0 rebounds, 5.7 assists and 1.9 steals per game, along with 119 three-point field goals, but only played 62 games due to a hamstring injury. In addition, Mario Elie provided with 11.7 points and 4.0 assists per game, along with 120 three-point field goals, while Johnson contributed 11.5 points per game in 24 games, Willis averaged 11.2 points and 7.5 rebounds per game, and Maloney contributed 9.4 points and 3.7 assists per game, led the Rockets with 154 three-point field goals, and was named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team. Meanwhile, Sam Mack contributed 5.6 points per game in 52 games, Price provided with 5.0 and 2.6 assists per game in 25 games, rookie power forward, and second-round draft pick Othella Harrington averaged 4.8 points and 3.5 rebounds per game, Bullard contributed 4.5 points per game, and rookie point guard, and second-round draft pick Randy Livingston provided with 3.9 points and 2.4 assists per game.

During the NBA All-Star weekend at the Gund Arena in Cleveland, Ohio, Olajuwon, Barkley and Drexler were all selected for the 1997 NBA All-Star Game, as members of the Western Conference All-Star team, while head coach Rudy Tomjanovich was selected to coach the Western Conference. However, Barkley and Drexler did not participate due to injuries; it was also the final All-Star selections for Olajuwon, Barkley and Drexler. Meanwhile, Maloney was selected for the NBA Rookie Game, as a member of the Western Conference Rookie team. Olajuwon also finished in seventh place in Most Valuable Player voting, while Barkley finished in 16th place, and Elie finished tied in sixth place in Defensive Player of the Year voting.

The Rockets finished 19th in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 667,685 at The Summit during the regular season.

NBA playoffs In the Western Conference First Round of the 1997 NBA playoffs, the Rockets faced off against the 6th–seeded Minnesota Timberwolves, a team that featured the trio of All-Star forward Tom Gugliotta, All-Star forward Kevin Garnett, and rookie point guard Stephon Marbury. The Rockets won the first two games over the Timberwolves at home at The Summit, before winning Game 3 on the road, 125–120 at the Target Center to win the series in a three-game sweep.

In the Western Conference Semi-finals, the team faced off against the 2nd–seeded, and Pacific Division champion Seattle SuperSonics, who were led by the All-Star trio of Gary Payton, Shawn Kemp and Detlef Schrempf. Both teams finished with the same regular-season record, but despite the SuperSonics winning the Pacific Division title, the Rockets had home-court advantage in the series. The Rockets took a 3–1 series lead over the SuperSonics, which included a Game 4 road win in overtime, 110–106 at the KeyArena at Seattle Center. However, the Rockets lost the next two games to the SuperSonics, including a Game 6 road loss, 99–96. With the series tied at 3–3, the Rockets won Game 7 over the SuperSonics at The Summit, 96–91 to win in a hard-fought seven-game series, and advance to the Conference Finals.

In the Western Conference Finals, the Rockets then faced off against the top–seeded, and Midwest Division champion Utah Jazz, who were led by the trio of All-Star forward, and Most Valuable Player of the Year, Karl Malone, All-Star guard John Stockton, and Jeff Hornacek. The Rockets lost the first two games to the Jazz on the road at the Delta Center, but managed to win their next two home games to even the series at 2–2, as Johnson hit a three-point buzzer-beater to win Game 4 over the Jazz, 95–92 at The Summit. However, after losing Game 5 at the Delta Center, 96–91, the Rockets lost Game 6 to the Jazz at The Summit, 103–100, when Stockton hit the series-winning three-point shot over Barkley at the buzzer, thus losing the series in six games.

The Jazz would advance to the NBA Finals for the first time in franchise history, but would lose to the defending NBA champion Chicago Bulls in six games in the 1997 NBA Finals.

Aftermath Following the season, Mack was traded to the Vancouver Grizzlies, and Threatt and Livingston were both released to free agency. The Rockets would not advance to the Western Conference Finals again until 2015, where they were defeated by the Golden State Warriors in five games.

Offseason During the 1996 off-season, All-Star forward Charles Barkley was traded from the Phoenix Suns in exchange for Sam Cassell, Robert Horry, Mark Bryant, and Chucky Brown; Barkley chose Houston specifically because he hoped to win an NBA championship with the team.

Draft picks

Round Pick Player Position Nationality College 2 30 Othella Harrington PF/C Georgetown 2 42 Randy Livingston SG/PG LSU 2 50 Terrell Bell C Georgia

Roster

Regular season In his first game with the Houston Rockets, Charles Barkley got 33 rebounds, a career high.

Season standings

c – clinched conference title y – clinched division title x – clinched playoff spot

Game log Game Date Opponent Result Team points Opponent score Record Streak OT 1 November 1 vs Sacramento Win 96 85 1-0 Won 1 2 November 2 at Phoenix Win 110 95 2-0 Won 2 3 November 4 at Utah Win 75 72 3-0 Won 3 4 November 5 at Sacramento Win 102 80 4-0 Won 4 5 November 7 at Denver Win 110 108 5-0 Won 5 OT 6 November 9 vs Utah Win 91 85 6-0 Won 6 7 November 12 vs LA Lakers Loss 115 126 6-1 Lost 1 2OT 8 November 14 vs Indiana Win 90 88 7-1 Won 1 9 November 16 vs Golden State Win 115 103 8-1 Won 2 10 November 19 vs Minnesota Win 122 93 9-1 Won 3 11 November 21 vs Phoenix Win 115 105 10-1 Won 4 12 November 23 at Golden State Win 120 115 11-1 Won 5 OT 13 November 24 at LA Lakers Win 90 85 12-1 Won 6 14 November 26 vs Portland Win 102 101 13-1 Won 7 OT 15 November 29 at Boston Win 120 94 14-1 Won 8 16 November 30 at Washington Win 103 99 15-1 Won 9 17 December 2 at Toronto Loss 89 100 15-2 Lost 1 18 December 4 vs Boston Win 94 89 16-2 Won 1 19 December 7 vs Philadelphia Win 123 108 17-2 Won 2 20 December 10 at Minnesota Win 96 94 18-2 Won 3 21 December 12 vs Detroit Win 115 96 19-2 Won 4 22 December 14 at Seattle Win 109 100 20-2 Won 5 23 December 15 at Portland Win 99 89 21-2 Won 6 24 December 17 at Vancouver Loss 92 93 21-3 Lost 1 25 December 19 vs San Antonio Loss 101 115 21-4 Lost 2 26 December 21 vs Miami Loss 66 86 21-5 Lost 3 27 December 23 vs Milwaukee Loss 76 81 21-6 Lost 4 28 December 26 at Milwaukee Win 101 90 22-6 Won 1 29 December 28 vs Golden State Win 104 95 23-6 Won 2 30 December 30 vs Seattle Win 99 91 24-6 Won 3 31 January 2 vs Portland Loss 96 112 24-7 Lost 1 32 January 4 vs LA Clippers Loss 91 95 24-8 Lost 2 33 January 7 at Minnesota Win 104 95 25-8 Won 1 34 January 8 at Cleveland Win 81 78 26-8 Won 2 35 January 10 at Philadelphia Win 120 99 27-8 Won 3 36 January 11 at Chicago Loss 86 110 27-9 Lost 1 37 January 14 vs New York Win 106 86 28-9 Won 1 38 January 16 vs Sacramento Win 89 80 29-9 Won 2 39 January 17 at Dallas Win 88 78 30-9 Won 3 40 January 19 vs Chicago Win 102 86 31-9 Won 4 41 January 21 at Charlotte Loss 108 114 31-10 Lost 1 42 January 23 vs New Jersey Win 111 104 32-10 Won 1 43 January 25 vs Utah Loss 100 105 32-11 Lost 1 OT 44 January 30 vs Denver Loss 109 113 32-12 Lost 2 45 January 31 at Indiana Loss 74 100 32-13 Lost 3 46 February 2 at Orlando Loss 90 103 32-14 Lost 4 47 February 4 at New York Loss 95 99 32-15 Lost 5 48 February 6 at Detroit Loss 87 96 32-16 Lost 6 49 February 11 vs Vancouver Win 106 97 33-16 Won 1 50 February 14 at Seattle Loss 85 105 33-17 Lost 1 51 February 15 at Portland Loss 105 109 33-18 Lost 2 52 February 17 vs Atlanta Win 127 98 34-18 Won 1 53 February 20 vs Toronto Win 107 97 35-18 Won 2 54 February 21 at Atlanta Loss 74 76 35-19 Lost 1 55 February 23 vs San Antonio Win 95 85 36-19 Won 1 56 February 25 vs LA Lakers Win 100 96 37-19 Won 2 57 February 27 vs Charlotte Loss 95 106 37-20 Lost 1 58 March 1 vs Dallas Win 89 80 38-20 Won 1 59 March 4 at LA Clippers Win 113 109 39-20 Won 2 60 March 5 at Golden State Win 90 85 40-20 Won 3 61 March 7 at LA Lakers Win 111 90 41-20 Won 4 62 March 9 at Dallas Win 88 83 42-20 Won 5 63 March 11 at San Antonio Win 103 79 43-20 Won 6 64 March 12 vs Orlando Loss 95 96 43-21 Lost 1 65 March 16 at Miami Loss 80 101 43-22 Lost 2 66 March 18 at New Jersey Win 97 89 44-22 Won 1 67 March 20 vs Washington Win 96 90 45-22 Won 2 68 March 22 vs Phoenix Loss 99 104 45-23 Lost 1 69 March 25 vs Minnesota Win 112 103 46-23 Won 1 70 March 27 vs Cleveland Win 107 89 47-23 Won 2 71 March 29 vs Denver Win 120 105 48-23 Won 3 72 April 1 at Denver Win 116 99 49-23 Won 4 73 April 2 at Phoenix Loss 96 109 49-24 Lost 1 74 April 4 at Sacramento Win 108 94 50-24 Won 1 75 April 6 at Vancouver Win 94 85 51-24 Won 2 76 April 8 at LA Clippers Win 127 117 52-24 Won 3 77 April 10 vs Vancouver Win 102 94 53-24 Won 4 78 April 11 at Utah Loss 83 104 53-25 Lost 1 79 April 13 vs Seattle Win 113 73 54-25 Won 1 80 April 15 vs LA Clippers Win 123 119 55-25 Won 2 81 April 18 vs Dallas Win 112 102 56-25 Won 3 OT 82 April 20 at San Antonio Win 103 99 57-25 Won 4

Playoffs

|- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 1 | May 5 | Seattle | W 112–102 | Clyde Drexler (22) | Hakeem Olajuwon (11) | Mario Elie (8) | The Summit16,285 | 1–0 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 2 | May 7 | Seattle | L 101–106 | Clyde Drexler (25) | Hakeem Olajuwon (12) | Clyde Drexler (8) | The Summit16,285 | 1–1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 3 | May 9 | @ Seattle | W 97–93 | Hakeem Olajuwon (24) | Hakeem Olajuwon (11) | Sedale Threatt (5) | KeyArena17,072 | 2–1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 4 | May 11 | @ Seattle | W 110–106 (OT) | Maloney, Barkley (26) | Charles Barkley (15) | Hakeem Olajuwon (9) | KeyArena17,072 | 3–1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 5 | May 13 | Seattle | L 94–100

1996–97 Houston Rockets season

Bron en licentie