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1995 NBA Finals

Team Coach Wins Houston Rockets Rudy Tomjanovich 4 Orlando Magic Brian Hill 0
Dates	June 7–14
MVP	Hakeem Olajuwon (Houston Rockets)
Hall of Famers	Rockets: Clyde Drexler (2004) Hakeem Olajuwon (2008) Magic: Shaquille O'Neal (2016) Coaches: Rudy Tomjanovich (2020) Officials: Dick Bavetta (2015) Danny Crawford (2025) Hugh Evans (2022)
Eastern finals	Magic defeatedPacers, 4–3
Western finals	Rockets defeatedSpurs, 4–2
← 1994 NBA Finals 1996 →

The1995 NBA Finals was thechampionship series of theNational Basketball Association's (NBA)1994–95 season, and the conclusion ofthe season's playoffs. The series pitted theEastern Conference championOrlando Magic against thedefending NBA champion andWestern Conference championHouston Rockets. Much pre-series hype concerned the meeting of the two All-Starcenters—Shaquille O'Neal of the Magic andHakeem Olajuwon of the Rockets—a matchup some compared to theBill Russell–Wilt Chamberlain games of the 1960s. The Rockets swept the Magic, repeating as champions and becoming the lowest-seeded team ever to win the Finals.

In the1995 playoffs, the Rockets became the first NBA team to win nine road playoff games and to beat four 50-win teams in a single postseason. It was the second NBA Finals sweep in the 2–3–2 Finals format (after theDetroit Pistons did so against theLos Angeles Lakers in1989). The Rockets also became the first repeat NBA Champion in history to keep the title with a sweep. In addition, the Rockets became the first team in NBA history to win the title without having home-court advantage in any of the four playoff rounds since the playoffs was expanded to a 16 team format in 1984. Coincidentally, this feat would also be achieved in theNHL by theNew Jersey Devils that same year, when they won theStanley Cup over thePresidents' Trophy winningDetroit Red Wings.^[1]

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,Nick Anderson missed four consecutivefree throws in the closing seconds of the game, andKenny Smith hit athree-pointer, tying the game and sending it to overtime as well as setting a new Finals record, with the most three-pointers in an NBA Finals game with seven (later broken byRay Allen, who hit eight three-pointers during Game 2 of the2010 NBA Finals). The more experienced Rockets went on to win in overtime and eventually swept the Magic, winning their second consecutive NBA Championship. In achieving this, they earned the distinction of being the only team to win both championships duringMichael Jordan's first retirement (although Jordan did return in the closing months of the 1994–95 season), in addition to being the only team other than theChicago Bulls to win multiple championships in the 1990s. This was also the second consecutive 90s championship series not featuring the Chicago Bulls, a streak the Bulls would end in 1996.

The season-ending documentaryDouble Clutch by Hal Douglas, was released byNBA Entertainment to coincide with the Rockets' championship season.

As of 2025 the Houston Rockets, as a 6th seed in the 1995 playoffs, remain the lowest-seeded team to win the NBA Finals.

The Rockets entered the 1994–95 season as defending champions. They had won their first eight games of the season,^[2] the first defending champions to have won their first eight games of their season since the1987-88 Lakers.^[3] However, they struggled to maintain last season's form due to injuries and off-court-distractions. On February 14, the Rockets acquiredClyde Drexler from thePortland Trail Blazers, but the trade of a hometown hero (Drexler was a teammate of Olajuwon at theUniversity of Houston) did not improve matters, and the Rockets settled for the sixth seed with a 47–35 record.

However, Houston once again lived up to itsClutch City reputation come playoff time. En route to the Finals, the Rockets defeated three teams with 55 or more victories. They began by ousting theUtah Jazz in five games (the Rockets trailed 2–1 after three games), then repeating last season's comeback effort over thePhoenix 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.^[4] After dispatching the Suns, the Rockets outclassed the top-seededSan Antonio Spurs in six games of the conference finals to become the first six seed to reach the NBA Finals since1981.

The Magic were only in their sixth season of existence, but they were a team on the rise. Led by All-StarsShaquille O'Neal andPenny Hardaway, new acquisitionHorace Grant, and franchise cornerstonesNick Anderson andDennis 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 theBoston Celtics. They followed it up with a six-game ouster ofMichael Jordan (returning from an 18-month retirement) and theChicago Bulls in the second round, and in the conference finals, they vanquished theIndiana Pacers in a tough seven-game series.

TheOrlando Magic won both games in the regular season series:

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 the1975 Finals, in which theGolden State Warriors swept theWashington Bullets).

All times are inEastern Daylight Time (UTC−4).

Orlando led 110–107 with 10.5 seconds left, whenNick 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 onKenny 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 byClyde 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.

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.

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.

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 theLarry O'Brien Trophy on the floor ofThe Summit, Rockets head coachRudy Tomjanovich said "Don't ever underestimate the heart of a champion!"^[8] Olajuwon, with his 35-point and 15 rebound performance, was named Finals MVP for the second straight year.

Game 4 remains the most recent NBA Finals game played in Houston to date.

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:^[9][10]

By winning his second straight NBA Finals MVP award, Hakeem Olajuwon became the sixth player to win the award on multiple occasions, joiningWillis Reed,Kareem Abdul-Jabbar,Magic Johnson,Larry Bird, andMichael Jordan. Jordan and Olajuwon at the time were the only players to win the award consecutively.

Houston Rockets

Orlando Magic

In the United States, the NBA Finals was broadcast onNBC television, withMarv Albert,Matt Guokas andBill Walton calling the action.Ahmad Rashad,Hannah Storm, andJim Gray served as sideline reporters, and studio coverage was handled byBob Costas,Julius Erving andPeter Vecsey. The games aired locally on NBC affiliatesKPRC-TV (Houston) andWESH (Orlando).

National radio coverage was provided by theNBA Radio Network, withJoe McConnell andWes Unseld on the call. After the season, NBA Radio was dissolved and subsequent national radio broadcasts of the NBA Finals would be handled byESPN Radio.

The Rockets 1995 title run is considered one of the toughest in NBA history.^[11][12] They did not hold home-court advantage in any round and beat three teams with a .700 winning percentage or better (the fourth team they beat, the 57-win Orlando Magic, were just one win from a .707 win percentage). In addition,Hakeem Olajuwon's 1995 playoffs is considered one of the best individual runs from a star player, as he averaged 33 points on .531 shooting, 10.3 rebounds, and 2.81 blocks in 42.2 minutes across 22 games.

After two straight NBA championships, the Rockets changed their primary logo, which showed a light blue rocket flying past a red basketball with the team name "Rockets", and added new pinstripe uniforms adding dark navy blue to their color scheme. The new look initially faced criticism from fans, who felt it deviated too much from the team's previous iconic identity. However, over time, the new logo and colors became more accepted as one of the distinct logos of the late-1990s.^[13]

The Rockets' title reign ended in1996, when they were swept by theSeattle Supersonics in the second round. The Sonics were also the last team to beat the Rockets in the playoffs prior to their championship run, having eliminated them in the second round in1993. During the subsequent offseason, the Rockets made a blockbuster acquisition in the offseason by securing the services of former NBA MVP and 9-time All-StarCharles Barkley. But age and injuries would take its toll on Barkley as this led to the Rockets falling short of being unable to replicate their previous success after their two-year consecutive championship reign, with their closest achievement being a six-game defeat to theUtah Jazz led byKarl Malone andJohn Stockton in the1997 Western Conference finals. As of 2025, this marks the most recent appearance by the Rockets in the finals.

TheOrlando Magic won a franchise-record 60 games during the1995–96 NBA season, but were swept by theMichael Jordan-ledChicago Bulls in the1996 Eastern Conference finals. During the offseason,Shaquille O'Neal signed with theLos Angeles Lakers, with whom he went on to win three championships; he later added a fourth title to his resume with theMiami Heat in2006. The Magic would not return to the Finals until2009, guided by rising starDwight Howard, but they were ultimately defeated by theKobe Bryant-ledLos Angeles Lakers in five games. They have not returned since.

O'Neal and Olajuwon faced off in the playoffs for the second and final time during the1999 Western Conference First Round, with O'Neal's Lakers defeating Olajuwon's Rockets in four games. O'Neal outscored Olajuwon in the series, averaging 29.5 points to Olajuwon's 13.3. This would mark Olajuwon's final postseason appearance with the Rockets.

• "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 – viaYouTube.

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