Houston Rockets
The
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 (NBA). The team was established in 1967, and played in
San Diego,
California for four years, before being moved to Houston.
[1]
In the Rockets' debut season, they won only 15 games. But after drafting
Elvin Hayes first overall in the
1969 NBA Draft, they made their first appearance in the
playoffs in 1969. After Hayes was traded,
Moses Malone was acquired to replace him. Malone won two MVPs during his time in Houston, and he led the Rockets to the
conference finals in
his first year with the Rockets. He also took the Rockets to the
NBA Finals in
1981, but they were defeated in six games by the
Boston Celtics.
[2]
In
1984, the Rockets drafted future
Hall-of-Famer Hakeem Olajuwon, who led them to the
1986 Finals in his second year, where they lost again to Boston. In the next seven seasons, they lost in the first round of the playoffs five times. They did not win their first championship until 1994, when Olajuwon led them to the
finals. The team repeated as champions in
1995. However, the Rockets did not advance to the finals again, and missed the playoffs from 1999–2003. They did not reach the playoffs again until they drafted
Yao Ming and they did not advance past the first round of the playoffs again until 2009.
[3]