1995 NBA Finals
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Dates | June 7–14 | |||||||||
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Western Finals | Rockets defeated Spurs, 4–2 | |||||||||
The 1995 NBA Finals was the championship round of the 1994–95 National Basketball Association (NBA) season. The series pitted the Eastern Conference champion Orlando Magic against the defending NBA champion and Western Conference champion Houston Rockets. The pre-series hype and buildup of the Finals was centered on the meeting of the two centers opposing each other: Shaquille O'Neal of the Magic and Hakeem Olajuwon of the Rockets. Going into the series the matchup was compared to the Bill Russell–Wilt Chamberlain matchup of the 1960s.
The Rockets 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 nine road games in the
The Orlando Magic, making their first NBA Finals appearance, began the series at home, hosting the defending champion Houston Rockets. With the Magic up 110–107 late in Game 1,
The season-ending documentary Double Clutch by Hal Douglas, was released by NBA Entertainment to coincide with the Rockets' championship season.
Background
Houston Rockets
The Rockets entered the 1994–95 season as defending champions. They had won their first eight games of the season,
However, Houston once again lived up to its Clutch City reputation come playoff time. En route to the Finals, the Rockets defeated three teams with 55 or more victories. They began by ousting the Utah Jazz in six games (the Rockets trailed 2–1 after three games), then repeating last season's comeback effort over the Phoenix Suns (wherein the Rockets trailed 3–1 after four games). In Game 7 of that series, Phoenix led Houston 51-42 after the first half before Houston mounted a comeback to get the series win, 115-114.[3] After dispatching the Suns, the Rockets outclassed the top-seeded San Antonio Spurs in six games of the conference finals.
Orlando Magic
The Magic were only in their sixth season of existence, but they were a team on the rise. Led by All-Stars Shaquille O'Neal and Penny Hardaway, new acquisition Horace Grant, and franchise cornerstones Nick Anderson and Dennis Scott, the Magic rolled through the Eastern Conference, winding up with a then-franchise best 57–25 mark.
Orlando's road to the Finals began with a convincing 3–1 series win over the Boston Celtics. They followed it up with a six-game ouster of Michael Jordan (returning from an 18-month retirement) and the Chicago Bulls in the second round, and in the conference finals, they vanquished the Indiana Pacers in a tough seven-game series.
Road to the Finals
Houston Rockets (Western Conference champion) | Orlando Magic (Eastern Conference champion) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Regular season |
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Defeated the (3) Utah Jazz, 3–2 | First Round | Defeated the (8) Boston Celtics, 3–1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Defeated the (2) Phoenix Suns, 4–3 | Conference Semifinals | Defeated the (5) Chicago Bulls, 4–2 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Defeated the (1) San Antonio Spurs, 4–2 | Conference Finals | Defeated the (2) Indiana Pacers, 4–3 |
Regular season series
The Orlando Magic won both games in the regular season series:
1995 NBA Finals rosters
Houston Rockets
1994–95 Houston Rockets roster | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Orlando Magic
1994–95 Orlando Magic roster | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Series summary
Game | Date | Road team | Result | Home team |
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Game 1 | June 7 | Houston Rockets | 120–118 (OT) (1–0) | Orlando Magic |
Game 2 | June 9 | Houston Rockets | 117–106 (2–0) | Orlando Magic |
Game 3 | June 11 | Orlando Magic | 103–106 (0–3) | Houston Rockets |
Game 4 | June 14 | Orlando Magic | 101–113 (0–4) | Houston Rockets |
This was one of only two NBA Finals in which the team who did not have home court advantage swept the series, (the other being the 1975 Finals, in which the Golden State Warriors swept the Washington Bullets).
- All times are in UTC−4).
Game 1
June 7
9:00 pm |
Houston Rockets 120, Orlando Magic 118 (OT) | ||
Scoring by quarter: 19–30, 31–31, 37–19, 23–30, Overtime: 10–8 | ||
9 | Pts: Hardaway, O'Neal 26 each Rebs: Grant, O'Neal 16 each Asts: Shaquille O'Neal 9 | |
Houston leads the series, 1–0 |
Orlando Arena, Orlando, Florida Attendance: 16,010 Referees:
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Orlando led 110-107 with 10.5 seconds left, when Nick Anderson was intentionally fouled to send him to the free-throw line. Normally a respectable free-throw shooter (70.4 percent in the regular season), Anderson missed both of his free throws, but was able to grab the offensive rebound after the second miss and was fouled again. Anderson shockingly missed the next two free throws, and Houston grabbed the rebound, and would tie the game with 1.6 seconds left on Kenny Smith's 3-point shot. The shot was one of Smith's seven made 3-point shots, setting a then-Finals record. In overtime, Hakeem Olajuwon tipped in a missed finger roll by Clyde Drexler with three-tenths of a second left to win the game. Hakeem Olajuwon finished the game with 31 points, 6 rebounds, 7 assists and 4 blocks while Kenny Smith recorded 23 points and 9 assists. The four consecutive missed free-throws by Nick Anderson would haunt him for the rest of his career. After the Finals, Anderson would shoot only 60.5% on free-throws for the rest of his career.
Game 2
June 9
9:00 pm |
Houston Rockets 117, Orlando Magic 106 | ||
Scoring by quarter: 28–19, 35–22, 27–30, 27–35 | ||
5 | Pts: Shaquille O'Neal 33 Rebs: Shaquille O'Neal 12 Asts: Penny Hardaway 8 | |
Houston leads the series, 2–0[4] |
Orlando Arena, Orlando, Florida Attendance: 16,010 Referees:
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Hakeem Olajuwon recorded a double-double with 34 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Rockets to a 117-106 victory and a 2-0 series lead. The Magic, on the other hand, became the 2nd team in NBA Finals history to lose the first two of their four home games.
Game 3
June 11
7:00 pm |
Orlando Magic 103, Houston Rockets 106 | ||
Scoring by quarter: 30–28, 23–26, 22–21, 28–31 | ||
14 | Pts: Hakeem Olajuwon 31 Rebs: Hakeem Olajuwon 14 Asts: Drexler, Olajuwon 7 each | |
Houston leads the series, 3–0[5] |
Robert Horry hit a three-pointer to give Houston a 104-100 lead with 14.1 seconds left. Orlando's Anfernee Hardaway then missed a three-pointer, and the rebound deflected off Dennis Scott and out of bounds with 6.8 seconds left, turning the ball over to Houston. Clyde Drexler was immediately fouled. He missed his first free throw and made the second for a 105-100 Rockets lead with 5.9 seconds left. Nick Anderson hit a three-pointer with 2.7 seconds left to bring the Magic within two points, and then Sam Cassell was immediately fouled. He needed to make both free throws to likely seal it, but missed the first. He made the second to give the Rockets a three-point lead with 2.2 seconds left. After a timeout to advance the ball to midcourt, the Magic had one last chance to tie the game and force overtime, but Hardaway missed a three-pointer as the buzzer sounded. The Rockets held on for a 106-103 win in Game 3 to take a 3-0 series lead and were one win away from their second consecutive NBA title.
Game 4
June 14
9:00 pm |
Orlando Magic 101, Houston Rockets 113 | ||
Scoring by quarter: 21–23, 30–24, 25–30, 25–36 | ||
5 | Pts: Hakeem Olajuwon 35 Rebs: Hakeem Olajuwon 15 Asts: Clyde Drexler 8 | |
Houston wins the NBA Finals, 4–0[6] |
At the end of the first half, the Magic had a 4-point advantage over the home team, Rockets. However, the Rockets had another notable comeback as they outscored the Magic 66-50 in the second half, thus winning their second consecutive NBA championship. Olajuwon outscored O'Neal by 10 points and capped off the sweep by hitting a memorable yet uncharacteristic 3-pointer in front of O'Neal. When accepting the
Olajuwon v. O'Neal
Although both centers played well, 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:[8][9]
1995 NBA Finals | Gm 1 | Gm 2 | Gm 3 | Gm 4 | Totals |
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Hakeem Olajuwon | 31 | 34 | 31 | 35 | 32.8 ppg |
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, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, and Michael Jordan. Jordan and Olajuwon at the time were the only players to win the award consecutively.
Player statistics
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
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- Houston Rockets
Player | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3FG% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
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Chucky Brown | 4 | 0 | 9.5 | .455 | .000 | 1.000 | 2.8 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 3.0 |
Sam Cassell | 4 | 0 | 23.3 | .429 | .467 | .833 | 1.8 | 3.0 | 1.8 | 0.0 | 14.3 |
Pete Chilcutt | 3 | 0 | 1.0 | .000 | .000 | .000 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
Clyde Drexler | 4 | 4 | 40.5 | .450 | .154 | .789 | 9.5 | 6.8 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 21.5 |
Mario Elie | 4 | 4 | 40.3 | .649 | .571 | .900 | 4.3 | 3.3 | 2.0 | 0.0 | 16.3 |
Robert Horry | 4 | 4 | 46.8 | .434 | .379 | .667 | 10.0 | 3.8 | 3.0 | 2.3 | 17.8 |
Charles Jones | 4 | 0 | 14.3 | .500 | .000 | 1.000 | 1.8 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 |
Hakeem Olajuwon | 4 | 4 | 44.8 | .483 | 1.000 | .692 | 11.5 | 5.5 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 32.8 |
Kenny Smith | 4 | 4 | 26.3 | .379 | .421 | .000 | 1.8 | 4.0 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 7.5 |
- Orlando Magic
Player | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3FG% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
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Nick Anderson | 4 | 4 | 40.3 | .360 | .323 | .300 | 8.5 | 4.3 | 2.0 | 0.5 | 12.3 |
Anthony Bowie | 4 | 0 | 6.5 | .600 | .500 | .000 | 0.5 | 1.5 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 3.3 |
Horace Grant | 4 | 4 | 42.0 | .532 | .000 | .800 | 12.0 | 1.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 13.5 |
Penny Hardaway | 4 | 4 | 43.0 | .500 | .458 | .913 | 4.8 | 8.0 | 1.0 | 0.8 | 25.5 |
Shaquille O'Neal | 4 | 4 | 45.0 | .595 | .000 | .571 | 12.5 | 6.3 | 0.3 | 2.5 | 28.0 |
Donald Royal | 1 | 0 | 1.0 | .000 | .000 | .000 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
Dennis Scott | 4 | 4 | 37.5 | .310 | .241 | 1.000 | 3.5 | 2.3 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 10.5 |
Brian Shaw | 4 | 0 | 21.0 | .426 | .385 | .000 | 3.3 | 3.3 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 12.5 |
Jeff Turner | 4 | 0 | 10.8 | .200 | .333 | .000 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.5 |
Media coverage
In the United States, the NBA Finals was broadcast on NBC television, with Marv Albert, Matt Guokas and Bill Walton calling the action. Ahmad Rashad, Hannah Storm, and Jim Gray served as sideline reporters, and studio coverage was handled by Bob Costas, Julius Erving and Peter Vecsey.
National radio coverage was provided by the NBA Radio Network, with Joe McConnell and Wes Unseld on the call. After the season, NBA Radio was dissolved and subsequent national radio broadcasts of the NBA Finals would be handled by ESPN Radio.
Aftermath
The Rockets' title reign ended in
The Magic won a franchise-record 60 games in the 1995–96 NBA season, but were swept by the Chicago Bulls in the 1996 Eastern Conference Finals. During the offseason, Shaquille O'Neal signed with the Los Angeles Lakers, with whom he went on to win three championships; he later added a fourth title to his resume with the Miami Heat in 2006. The Magic would not return to the Finals until 2009, which they lost to the Lakers in five games.
References
- ^ "1994-95 Houston Rockets Schedule and Results". Retrieved July 29, 2019.
- ^ "1987-88 Los Angeles Lakers Schedule and Results". Retrieved July 29, 2019.
- ^ "Houston Rockets at Phoenix Suns Box Score, May 20, 1995". Retrieved July 29, 2019.
- ^ Roarin' Rockets send Magic reeling, 2-0 Manila Standard June 11, 1995
- ^ Houston poised for sweep Manila Standard June 13, 1995
- ^ Two-rrific Two-ston Manila Standard June 16, 1995
- ^ Short, Mike (December 19, 2019). "Don't ever underestimate the heart of a champion'". Morning Read.
- ^ History of the NBA Finals: Hakeem Olajuwon: The NBA’s Best In The Mid ’90s, hollywoodsportsbook.com, accessed February 16, 2007.
- ^ NBA Finals Records Archived October 13, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, Basketball.com, accessed February 16, 2007.
External links
- "Shaq and Olajuwon's Game 1 battle in the 1995 NBA Finals deserves a deep rewind". SB Nation. February 23, 2019. Archived from the original on December 21, 2021 – via YouTube.