The
1995 NBA Finals was the championship round of the 1994–95 NBA season. The series pitted the
Orlando MagicThe Orlando Magic is a professional basketball team based in Orlando, Florida. They play in the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association and are currently coached by Stan Van Gundy...
against the
Houston RocketsThe Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston, Texas. The team plays in the Southwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association . The team was established in 1967, and played in San Diego, California for four years, before being...
. The pre-series hype and build-up of the Finals was centered around the meeting of the two
centersThe center, colloquially known as the five or the post, is one of the standard positions in a regulation basketball game. The center is normally the tallest player on the team, and often has a great deal of strength and body mass as well...
Shaquille O'NealShaquille Rashaun O'Neal , nicknamed "Shaq" , is a former American professional basketball player. Standing tall and weighing , he was one of the heaviest players ever to play in the NBA...
of the Magic and
Hakeem OlajuwonHakeem Abdul Olajuwon is a retired Nigerian-American professional basketball player. From 1984 to 2002, he played the center position in the National Basketball Association for the Houston Rockets and Toronto Raptors. He led the Rockets to back-to-back NBA championships in 1994 and 1995. In 2008,...
of the Rockets. Going into the series the matchup was compared to the
Bill RussellWilliam Felton "Bill" Russell is a retired American professional basketball player who played center for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association...
-
Wilt ChamberlainWilton Norman "Wilt" Chamberlain was an American professional NBA basketball player for the Philadelphia/San Francisco Warriors, the Philadelphia 76ers and the Los Angeles Lakers; he also played for the Harlem Globetrotters prior to playing in the NBA...
matchup of the 1960s.
The Rockets became the first team in NBA history to win the championship as a sixth seed. In addition, they became the first team in NBA history to beat four 50-win teams in a single postseason en route to the championship. The Rockets would win a playoff-record 9 road games in the
1995 playoffsThe 1995 NBA Playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 1994-1995 season. The tournament concluded with the Western Conference champion Houston Rockets winning their second consecutive NBA championship by defeating the Eastern Conference champion Orlando Magic...
. In addition, the Rockets' sweep of the Magic was unique, in the fact that it was a "reverse sweep," where Houston won Games 1 and 2 on the road and 3 and 4 at home. It was also the second NBA Finals sweep in the current 2-3-2 Finals format. The Rockets also became the first repeat NBA Champion in history to keep the title with a sweep.
The Orlando Magic (making their first ever NBA Finals appearance) began the 1995 NBA Finals at home, hosting the defending champion Houston Rockets. With the Magic up by three points late in Game 1,
Nick AndersonNelison "Nick" Anderson is a former American professional basketball player. He attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign for two years, playing on the team that reached the NCAA Final Four in 1989. That Fighting Illini team gained the moniker "Flyin' Illini" by Dick Vitale while...
missed four consecutive
free throwIn basketball, free throws or foul shots are unopposed attempts to score points from a restricted area on the court , and are generally awarded after a foul on the shooter by the opposing team...
s in the closing seconds of the game, and
Kenny SmithKenneth "The Jet" Smith is a retired National Basketball Association player and current TV basketball analyst, primarily for Inside the NBA on TNT.-Early life:...
hit a three pointer, tying the game and sending it to overtime as well as setting a new record with the most three-pointers in an NBA Finals game with 7. The more experienced Rockets went on to win in overtime and eventually swept the Magic, winning their second consecutive NBA Championship.
The season-ending documentary
Double Clutch by Hal Douglas, was released by
NBA EntertainmentNBA Entertainment is the production arm of the National Basketball Association and produces numerous NBA-related films including team championship videos and blooper and entertainment reels. It was previously associated with CBS/Fox Video, but now distributes its films through Warner Bros....
to coincide with the Rockets' championship season.
1995 Houston Rockets
Game 3
Robert HorryRobert Keith Horry Jr. is a retired American basketball player and current sports commentator. He played 16 seasons in the National Basketball Association , winning seven championships, the most of any player not to have played on the 1960s Boston Celtics...
hits a 3-pointer to give Houston a 104-100 lead with 14.1 seconds left.
Game 4
Olajuwon outscores O'Neal by 10 points and caps off the sweep by hitting a memorable yet uncharacteristic 3-pointer in front of O'Neal.
Olajuwon vs. O'Neal
Although both centers played well, Olajuwon is generally considered to have outplayed O'Neal. Olajuwon outscored O'Neal in every game of the series and became one of the few players in NBA history to score at least 30 points in every game of an NBA Finals series:
| 1995 NBA Finals |
Gm 1 |
Gm 2 |
Gm 3 |
Gm 4 |
Totals |
| Hakeem Olajuwon |
31 |
34 |
31 |
35 |
32.8 ppg Points per game, often abbreviated PPG, is the average number of points scored by a player per game played in a sport, over the course of a series of games, a whole season, or a career. It is calculated by dividing the total number of points by number of games. The terminology is often used in...
|
| Shaquille O'Neal |
26 |
33 |
28 |
25 |
28.0 ppg |
By winning his second straight NBA Finals MVP award, Hakeem Olajuwon became the sixth player to win the award on multiple occasions, joining
Willis Reed Willis Reed, Jr. is a retired American basketball player, coach and manager of basketball teams. He spent his entire professional playing career with the New York Knicks. In 1982, his outstanding record and achievements were recognized by his induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall...
,
Kareem Abdul-JabbarKareem Abdul-Jabbar is a retired American professional basketball player. He is the NBA's all-time leading scorer, with 38,387 points. During his career with the NBA's Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Lakers from 1969 to 1989, Abdul-Jabbar won six NBA championships and a record six regular season...
,
Magic JohnsonEarvin "Magic" Johnson Jr. is a retired American professional basketball player who played point guard for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association . After winning championships in high school and college, Johnson was selected first overall in the 1979 NBA Draft by the Lakers...
,
Larry BirdLarry Joe Bird is a former American NBA basketball player and coach. Drafted into the NBA sixth overall by the Boston Celtics in 1978, Bird started at small forward and power forward for thirteen seasons, spearheading one of the NBA's most formidable frontcourts that included center Robert Parish...
,
Michael JordanMichael Jeffrey Jordan is a former American professional basketball player, active entrepreneur, and majority owner of the Charlotte Bobcats...
. Later
Shaquille O'NealShaquille Rashaun O'Neal , nicknamed "Shaq" , is a former American professional basketball player. Standing tall and weighing , he was one of the heaviest players ever to play in the NBA...
,
Tim DuncanTimothy Theodore "Tim" Duncan is an American professional basketball player for the San Antonio Spurs of the National Basketball Association . The 6-foot 11-inch , 255-pound power forward/center is a four-time NBA champion, two-time NBA MVP, three-time NBA Finals MVP, and NBA Rookie of the Year...
, and
Kobe BryantKobe Bean Bryant is an American professional basketball player who plays shooting guard for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association . Bryant enjoyed a successful high school basketball career at Lower Merion High School, where he was recognized as the top high school...
would join this group. Jordan and Olajuwon at the time were the only players to win the award consecutively. Later, O'Neal himself would go on to win the award in three consecutive seasons with the Lakers (2000-02). Kobe Bryant later won two NBA Finals MVP awards consecutively (2009-10).
Quotes of the Finals
Aftermath
The Rockets' championship reign would end in
1996The 1996 NBA Playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 1995-1996 season. The tournament concluded with the Eastern Conference champion Chicago Bulls winning their first NBA championship in three years by defeating the Western Conference champion Seattle...
, where they were swept by the
Seattle SuperSonicsThe Seattle SuperSonics were an American professional basketball team based in Seattle, Washington that played in the Pacific and Northwest Divisions of the National Basketball Association from 1967 until 2008. Following the 2007–08 season, the team relocated to Oklahoma City, and now plays as...
in four games of the second round. The Sonics were also the last team to beat the Rockets in the playoffs prior to their two-year championship reign, when they defeated them in seven games of the second round in
1993The 1993 NBA Playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 1992-1993 season. The tournament concluded with the Eastern Conference champion Chicago Bulls winning their third consecutive championship by defeating the Western Conference champion Phoenix Suns four...
. That year, the Rockets won 48 games and achieved the fourth seed. The following offseason, the Rockets attempted to make it back to the finals by adding former NBA MVP
Charles BarkleyCharles Wade Barkley is a former American professional basketball player. Nicknamed "Sir Charles" and "The Round Mound of Rebound", Barkley established himself as one of the National Basketball Association's most dominating power forwards...
. However, age and injuries would take its toll, and the closest the Rockets would achieve after their two-year championship reign was a six-game loss to the
Utah JazzThe Utah Jazz is a professional basketball team based in Salt Lake City, Utah. They are currently a part of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association...
in the
1997 Western Conference FinalsThe 1997 NBA Playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 1996–97 season. The tournament concluded with the Eastern Conference champion Chicago Bulls winning the NBA championship by defeating the Western Conference champion Utah Jazzfour games to two...
. As of 2011, this is the Rockets' last NBA Finals appearance.
The Magic would have another strong season in
1996The 1995–96 NBA season was the 50th season of the National Basketball Association , although the league didn't celebrate this anniversary until the following season...
winning 60 games. However, they were swept by the
Chicago BullsThe Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago, Illinois, playing in the Central Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association . The team was founded in 1966. They play their home games at the United Center...
in the Eastern Conference Finals, who would go on to win the NBA championship after registering a league-record 72 wins. The following offseason,
Shaquille O'NealShaquille Rashaun O'Neal , nicknamed "Shaq" , is a former American professional basketball player. Standing tall and weighing , he was one of the heaviest players ever to play in the NBA...
joined the
Los Angeles LakersThe Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles, California. They play in the Pacific Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association...
, and went on to win NBA titles with the team in
2000The 2000 NBA Finals was the championship round of the 1999-2000 National Basketball Association season. The Los Angeles Lakers of the Western Conference took on the Indiana Pacers of the Eastern Conference for the title, with the Lakers holding home court advantage...
,
2001The 2001 NBA Finals was the championship round of the 2000-01 National Basketball Association season. The Los Angeles Lakers of the Western Conference took on the Philadelphia 76ers of the Eastern Conference for the title, with the Lakers holding home court advantage in a best-of-seven format.The...
and
2002The 2002 NBA Finals was the National Basketball Association championship series for the 2001–02 season. The best-of-seven playoff was contested between the Los Angeles Lakers, champions of the Western Conference and two-time defending NBA champions, and the New Jersey Nets, champions of the...
. The Magic would not make it back to the finals until
2009The 2009 NBA Finals was the National Basketball Association championship series for the 2008-09 season. The best-of-seven playoff was contested between the Los Angeles Lakers, champions of the Western Conference and defending Western Conference champions, and the Orlando Magic, champions of the...
.
The championship was the last to date for a Houston-based professional sports team among the big four of professional team sports, though the now-defunct
Houston CometsThe Houston Comets were a Women's National Basketball Association team based in Houston, Texas, United States. Formed in 1997, the team was one of the best original eight WNBA teams and won the first four championships of the league's existence. The Comets were the first dynasty of the WNBA and...
of the
WNBAThe Women's National Basketball Association is a women's professional basketball league in the United States. It currently is composed of twelve teams. The league was founded on April 24, 1996 as the women's counterpart to the National Basketball Association...
would win the league's first four championships from 1997-2000.
For the first time in history, the NBA Finals ended before the
NHLThe National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...
's
Stanley Cup FinalsThe 1995 Stanley Cup Final NHL championship series was contested by the New Jersey Devils and the Detroit Red Wings. This was the first of nine consecutive finals with American franchises exclusively. New Jersey was making the franchise's first-ever appearance in the Final, while Detroit returned...
. This would happen only twice more, in
2002The 2002 NBA Finals was the National Basketball Association championship series for the 2001–02 season. The best-of-seven playoff was contested between the Los Angeles Lakers, champions of the Western Conference and two-time defending NBA champions, and the New Jersey Nets, champions of the...
and
2011The 2011 NBA Finals was the championship series of the 2010–11 season of the National Basketball Association and the conclusion of the season's playoffs. The Western Conference champion Dallas Mavericks defeated the Eastern Conference champion Miami Heat, 4–2, to win their first NBA title...
.