NBA Betting

History of the NBA Finals

Houston Rockets vs. Orlando Magic - 1995

TSN PHOTO

Centers Shaquille O'Neal (top) and Hakeem Olajuwon (bottom) square off.

When the Houston Rockets presented the city with its first professional championship, a stunned and appreciative populace adopted the slogan Believe It to sum up its emotions. An addendum was attached to this simple statement of faith at the conclusion of the 1994-95 season.

Believe it.

Again.

"To win the first time is a very unique feeling," Rockets center Hakeem Olajuwon said. "You don't know what it's going to be like until it happens. But to win it a second time is a different kind of thrill. You know the reward, and that makes you want it even more."

Houston's second consecutive NBA title was a transcendental odyssey. There was more intrigue involved than the first time around. More comebacks. More stirring performances.

And more respect. The Rockets' first championship was dismissed in some circles as a fluke, an aberration. In a league still reeling from the loss of Michael Jordan, any team that won the title in '93-94 was going to have its championship timber questioned.

Those doubts drove the Rockets in their quest to repeat. Once Houston disposed of the Orlando Magic in 4-0 fashion in the NBA Finals, the team's claim to the throne was irrefutable.

"I defy anyone to say we backed into this one," said Bob Weinhauer, Houston's vice president of basketball operations. "Last year, they said Michael wasn't in the playoffs and Seattle got beat in the first round and all that kind of garbage. This year, we only had to beat the four best teams in the NBA-and we had to beat them all on their court."

Houston became the first team in league history to eliminate four teams that won 50 or more games-Utah (60), Phoenix (59), San Antonio (62) and Orlando (57)-on its way to the title. It joined Boston, Los Angeles/Minneapolis, Chicago and Detroit as the only franchises to win back-to-back championships.

During the regular season, the Rockets had to adjust to the midseason trade of Otis Thorpe for Clyde Drexler. Coach Rudy Tomjanovich's lineup fluctuated nightly as his players missed games due to injuries, anemia and suspensions. The Rockets, 47-35 in the regular season, entered the playoffs as the No. 6 seed in the tough Western Conference. Power forward Carl Herrera logged just six minutes during the playoffs because of a dislocated right shoulder, and guard Vernon Maxwell was granted a leave of absence one game into postseason play because he was unable to handle his role, which was reduced after Drexler's arrival.

The Rockets overcame all that and a two-games-to-one deficit to beat the Jazz in the first round. Houston then fell behind the Suns three games to one in the second round before storming back to win 11 of their final 13 playoff games.

"Never underestimate the heart of a champion," Tomjanovich bellowed just moments after his team swept Orlando.

The dramatic high point of the Finals came in Game 1. The Magic rode the emotion of the home crowd at the Orlando Arena to a 57-37 second-quarter lead. A furious three-point barrage, led by Houston's Kenny Smith, allowed the Rockets to forge a nine-point lead in the second half. The Magic regained the edge midway through the fourth quarter and carried a 110-107 advantage into the final seconds of regulation.

But with 1.6 seconds remaining, Smith buried his seventh three-pointer of the evening, an NBA Finals record. Houston's Robert Horry then blocked a three-point attempt by Dennis Scott at the end of regulation to send the game into overtime.

"It was amazing," Tomjanovich said. "But I'd be a hypocrite if I said I thought it was a fluke, not with the way this team has played."

Smith scored 20 of his 23 points in the second half. Horry scored 14 of his 19 points after the intermission. Still, with 5.5 seconds left in overtime, the score was tied on a three-pointer by Scott.

Enter Olajuwon. Drexler slashed his way to the basket and missed a running, five-foot banker over the outstretched arm of Orlando center Shaquille O'Neal. Olajuwon tipped in the miss with three-tenths of a second left to lift Houston to a 120-1 18 overtime victory.

"It was so quiet that I didn't realize the basket was in," said Olajuwon, who finished with 31 points despite being double-teamed the entire game. "This team never gives up. This is a classic example of what we've been going through."

It also was a classic example of three-point shooting. The two teams combined to hoist 62 shots from long range, 25 more than had ever been attempted in an NBA Finals game. It set the tone for the entire series.

"It's very difficult to lose a game like that," said Orlando's Anfernee Hardaway, who had 26 points and five assists. "When you're up by 20 points, you do not expect a team to come back and take over a game like they did. You have to give them a lot of credit."

Magic guard Nick Anderson, meanwhile, was forced to accept a large part of the blame. He missed four free throws in the final 10.7 seconds of regulation time, leaving the door open for Houston.

"I've been in worse situations than this," Anderson said. "My high school teammate (Ben Wilson), I watched him die. He got shot twice in the stomach, and I saw it.

"I was right there, no more than 25 feet away. You grow up on the streets of Chicago, you can see anything. Wednesday night (Game 1) was not a tragedy It's just something that happens. This was just basketball."

Houston's performance from three-point range made Orlando conscious of defending the perimeter in Game 2. That allowed point guard Sam Cassell to slip in between the cracks and puncture the Magic with his mid-range jumper. Cassell came off the bench to stun the Magic with 31 points in the Rockets' 117-106 victory. Olajuwon had 34 points and 11 rebounds. Horry had 11 points, 10 rebounds and a Finals-record seven steals.

Tomjanovich called Horry's performance phenomenal. Orlando Coach Brian Hill said it was the difference in the game.

The difference came in the first half. Horry ignited the dynamic, defensive tone that scrambled Orlando's offense and took the Magic out of its game plan from the opening tip. Orlando got no fast-break points in the first half, shot just 34.1 percent from the field and had as many turnovers (nine) as assists. The Magic trudged to the locker room with a 22-point deficit.

"They're a team that really likes to get out on the break, to get some dunks and get their fans into the game," Horry said. "We didn't want to let that happen. When they fell behind, you could tell they became frustrated."

That frustration mounted as the series shifted to The Summit for Game 3. Orlando dictated the tempo for most of the evening, yet trailed by one point with 35 seconds left. Horry's three-point basket with 14.1 seconds remaining proved to be the decisive shot in a 106-103 Houston victory.

The Magic lost because Olajuwon and Drexler combined for 56 points and 27 rebounds; because with the score tied with 7:29 remaining, Orlando failed to score on its next six possessions; and because O'Neal, who carried the Magic with 11 of his 28 points in the fourth quarter, did not get the ball from his teammates in the final, fatal moments.

"We came off our shot selection," Hill said. "Instead of going inside like we had been, we got a little bit erratic. We started to hurry some shots, started shooting jumpers we didn't have to take at that time."

It was one of the few times in the playoffs the Magic showed its youth and inexperience. Guard Brian Shaw said his team was shocked to be down 0-3. O'Neal made what amounted to a concession speech.

"This is our first time," said O'Neal, 23. "This is a learning experience. I'm going to get here again before I retire. I'm going to get here many times."

Orlando hung tough into the fourth quarter of Game 4. O'Neal, who averaged 28 points, 12.5 rebounds, 6.2 assists and shot 59.5 percent from the field for the series, scored on an offensive rebound to open the final period and nudge the Magic to a one-point lead.

Houston responded with a 22-9 run. Small forward Mario Elie scored eight of his 22 points in the first 4:10 of the quarter to ignite the burst. Horry again stood tall with 21 points and 13 rebounds. His three-pointer with 5:45 remaining was the beginning of the end for the Magic.

Final score: Houston, 113-101.

"How sweet it is," said Drexler, who had made it to the Finals twice as a member of the Portland Trail Blazers, losing to Detroit in 1990 and Chicago in 1992. He and Olajuwon were teammates in college on a Houston Cougars team that made it to the Final Four twice but failed to win the championship.

Olajuwon said winning an NBA title with Drexler in the city where they both started their careers was special. Drexler was special in the series, too, averaging 21.5 points, 9.5 rebounds and 6.8 assists and carrying the Houston offense when Olajuwon didn't.

"Every athlete strives for excellence, and the excellence in professional sports is the championship ring," Drexler said. "In team sports, you have to be on a team that is good enough to be a champion. If you come up short, persistence pays off. Finally, I am on a team that is good enough to win it, and I couldn't be happier."

Seconds after the Rockets won Game 4, Hill called his players together to observe the celebration and told them that next year they would feel what the Rockets were feeling at that moment.

"Like I told the guys, we would have loved to have won the championship, but losing in the Finals like we did should not break our season, power forward Horace Grant said. "If we had won, it would have been icing on the cake. We still have a very young basketball team."

After being named Most Valuable Player of the Finals for the second consecutive year -- joining Jordan (1991-93) as the only repeat recipient -- Olajuwon said he was surprised. He was the only person who was. Olajuwon averaged 32.8 points, 11.5 rebounds and 5.5 assists for the series and strengthened his claim as the sport's dominant athlete. Drexler called his friend the best player on the planet.

"The cream always rises to the top," said Tomjanovich, who became the seventh coach to win consecutive NBA titles. "What he did is hard to believe."

What the Rockets accomplished as a team may be even harder to believe.

"This team is like the heart and soul of the city of Houston," owner Les Alexander said. "Now, the only thing to do is try for a three-peat."