1994 NBA Finals

1994 NBA Finals

Team Coach Wins Houston Rockets Rudy Tomjanovich 4 New York Knicks Pat Riley 3
Dates:	June 8–22
MVP:	Hakeem Olajuwon (Houston Rockets)
Hall of Famers	Rockets: Hakeem Olajuwon (2008) Knicks: Patrick Ewing (2008) Coaches: Pat Riley (2008) Rudy Tomjanovich (2020) Officials: Dick Bavetta (2015) Darell Garretson (2016) Hugh Evans (2022)
Eastern Finals:	Knicks defeated Pacers, 4–3
Western Finals:	Rockets defeated Jazz, 4–1
NBA Finals
← 1993
1995 →

The 1994 NBA Finals was the championship round of the National Basketball Association (NBA)'s 1993–94 season, and the culmination of the season's playoffs.

The Western Conference champion Houston Rockets played the Eastern Conference champion New York Knicks for the championship, with the Rockets holding home-court advantage in the best-of-seven series. The Rockets defeated the Knicks 4 games to 3 to win the team's first NBA championship.

This matchup was Hakeem Olajuwon's second NBA Finals appearance, his other being in 1986, where Larry Bird and the Boston Celtics defeated the Houston Rockets four games to two. The series was Patrick Ewing's first NBA Finals appearance. The Rockets came in with strong determination to win not only the franchise's first NBA championship, but the city's first championship in a league that still existed, while the Knicks were looking to add a third NBA championship trophy, as the Knicks' last trophy came from the 1973 NBA Finals. The Knicks also hoped to impress their new owners Viacom, who had just bought Paramount Communications (formerly Gulf+Western), their longtime owners (after the series however, Viacom sold the Knicks and the rest of the Madison Square Garden properties).

The series was hailed as a meeting of the two great centers who had previously played for a championship in college. In 1984, while Olajuwon was with the University of Houston and Ewing was with Georgetown University, Georgetown had beaten Houston 84–75 in the 1984 NCAA Championship game. In this series, however, Olajuwon outperformed Ewing, outscoring him in every game of the series and posting numbers of 26.9 ppg on 50.0% shooting compared to Ewing's 18.9 ppg on 36.3% shooting. However, Ewing set an NBA finals record in the series with a total of 30 blocks, and he tied the single-game record of 8 blocks in Game 5. Tim Duncan would later set the record for most blocks in a Finals series (2003) with 32 blocks in six games while Dwight Howard would set the record for most blocked shots in a Finals game with 9 blocked shots in Game 4 of the 2009 Finals while with the Orlando Magic.

During the series, the Houston Rockets played seven low-scoring, defensive games against the New York Knicks. After splitting the first two games in Houston, the Knicks won two out of three games at Madison Square Garden, which also hosted the Rangers first Stanley Cup celebration in 54 years during the series.

In Game 6, however, Rockets center Hakeem Olajuwon blocked a last-second championship-winning shot attempt by John Starks, giving the Rockets an 86–84 victory and forcing a Game 7, which made Knicks Coach Pat Riley the first (and to this date, the only) coach in a Game 7 NBA Finals on two teams, having been with the Los Angeles Lakers in 1984 and 1988. In addition, the Knicks set a record for most playoff games played in one season, with 25. The Detroit Pistons tied this record in 2005. The Boston Celtics, coached by Doc Rivers, would surpass it during their championship season of 2008 when they played 26.

The Rockets beat the Knicks in Game 7, 90–84, enabling the city of Houston to not only celebrate its first NBA and fifth professional sports championship (first in an existing league), but also deny New York from having both NBA and NHL championships in the same year (Chicago had suffered this fate two years earlier in 1992, with the Bulls winning their second NBA championship and the Blackhawks losing in the Stanley Cup Finals). For his efforts, Olajuwon was named NBA Finals Most Valuable Player. For the Knicks, Riley had the unfortunate distinction of having become the first (and to this date, the only) coach to lose a Game 7 NBA Finals on two teams, having lost to the Boston Celtics in 1984. It also denied him the distinction of being the first coach to win a Game 7 NBA Finals with two teams, having defeated the Detroit Pistons in 1988.

NBC Sports used Ahmad Rashād (Knicks sideline) and Hannah Storm (Rockets sideline).

Hal Douglas narrated the season-ending documentary Clutch City for NBA Entertainment.

1994 NBA Playoffs

Houston Rockets (Western Conference Champion)			New York Knicks (Eastern Conference Champion)
58–24 (.707) 1st Midwest, 2nd West, 2nd Overall	Regular season		57–25 (.695) 1st Atlantic, 2nd East, 4th Overall
Defeated the (7) Portland Trail Blazers, 3–1	First Round		Defeated the (7) New Jersey Nets, 3–1
Defeated the (3) Phoenix Suns, 4–3	Conference Semifinals		Defeated the (3) Chicago Bulls, 4–3
Defeated the (5) Utah Jazz, 4–1	Conference Finals		Defeated the (5) Indiana Pacers, 4–3

Regular season series

The Houston Rockets won both games in the regular season series:

December 2, 1993

Houston Rockets 94, New York Knicks 85

Madison Square Garden, New York City

February 24, 1994

New York Knicks 73, Houston Rockets 93

The Summit, Houston, Texas

Series summary

Game	Date	Home Team	Result	Road Team
Game 1	June 8	Houston	85–78	New York
Game 2	June 10	Houston	83–91	New York
Game 3	June 12	New York	89–93	Houston
Game 4	June 15	New York	91–82	Houston
Game 5	June 17	New York	91–84	Houston
Game 6	June 19	Houston	86–84	New York
Game 7	June 22	Houston	90–84	New York

Game 1

June 8 9:00et		New York Knicks 78, Houston Rockets 85				The Summit, Houston, Texas Attendance: 16,611 Referees: No. 17 Joe Crawford No. 14 Jack Madden No. 27 Dick Bavetta	NBC
		Scoring by quarter: 24–26, 22–28, 17–18, 15–13
		Pts: Patrick Ewing 23 Rebs: Charles Oakley 14 Asts: Derek Harper 5		Pts: Hakeem Olajuwon 28 Rebs: Otis Thorpe 16 Asts: Kenny Smith 5
		Houston leads the series, 1–0

Game 2

June 10 9:00et		New York Knicks 91, Houston Rockets 83				The Summit, Houston, Texas Attendance: 16,611 Referees: No. 10 Darell Garretson No. 4 Ed T. Rush No. 42 Hue Hollins	NBC
		Scoring by quarter: 24–20, 18–22, 30–23, 19–18
		Pts: John Starks 19 Rebs: Patrick Ewing 13 Asts: John Starks 9		Pts: Hakeem Olajuwon 25 Rebs: Otis Thorpe 12 Asts: Kenny Smith 6
		Series tied, 1–1

Game 3

June 12 7:30et		Houston Rockets 93, New York Knicks 89				Madison Square Garden, New York City Attendance: 19,763 Referees: No. 11 Jake O'Donnell No. 20 Jess Kersey No. 21 Bill Oakes	NBC
		Scoring by quarter: 26–18, 19–20, 24–25, 24–26
		Pts: Hakeem Olajuwon 21 Rebs: Hakeem Olajuwon 11 Asts: Hakeem Olajuwon 7		Pts: Derek Harper 21 Rebs: Patrick Ewing 13 Asts: John Starks 9
		Houston leads the series, 2–1

Game 4

June 15 9:00et		Houston Rockets 82, New York Knicks 91				Madison Square Garden, New York City Attendance: 19,763 Referees: No. 25 Hugh Evans No. 17 Joe Crawford No. 13 Mike Mathis	NBC
		Scoring by quarter: 14–19, 19–21, 28–20, 21–31
		Pts: Hakeem Olajuwon 32 Rebs: Otis Thorpe 10 Asts: Sam Cassell 5		Pts: Derek Harper 21 Rebs: Charles Oakley 20 Asts: Derek Harper 5
		Series tied, 2–2

Game 5

June 17 9:00et		Houston Rockets 84, New York Knicks 91				Madison Square Garden, New York City Attendance: 19,763 Referees: No. 10 Darell Garretson No. 4 Ed T. Rush No. 27 Dick Bavetta	NBC
		Scoring by quarter: 21–22, 16–26, 24–13, 23–30
		Pts: Hakeem Olajuwon 27 Rebs: Otis Thorpe 13 Asts: Robert Horry 6		Pts: Patrick Ewing 25 Rebs: Patrick Ewing 12 Asts: Derek Harper 7
		New York leads the series, 3–2

Game 6

June 19 7:30et		New York Knicks 84, Houston Rockets 86				The Summit, Houston, Texas Attendance: 16,611 Referees: No. 11 Jake O'Donnell No. 20 Jess Kersey No. 14 Jack Madden	NBC
		Scoring by quarter: 21–21, 15–25, 26–19, 22–21
		Pts: John Starks 27 Rebs: Patrick Ewing 15 Asts: Derek Harper 10		Pts: Hakeem Olajuwon 30 Rebs: Olajuwon, Thorpe 10 each Asts: Otis Thorpe 6
		Series tied, 3–3

Game 7

June 22 9:00et		New York Knicks 84, Houston Rockets 90				The Summit, Houston, Texas Attendance: 16,611 Referees: No. 25 Hugh Evans No. 17 Joe Crawford No. 4 Ed T. Rush	NBC
		Scoring by quarter: 21–22, 22–23, 17–18, 24–27
		Pts: Derek Harper 23 Rebs: Charles Oakley 14 Asts: Derek Harper 5		Pts: Hakeem Olajuwon 25 Rebs: Hakeem Olajuwon 10 Asts: Hakeem Olajuwon 7
		Houston wins the series, 4–3

Olajuwon vs. Ewing

Although most fans in New York, and some members of the national media, blamed John Starks' poor performance, who shot 2-for-18 from the field in Game 7, as a contributing factor in the Knicks' loss in the series, another important factor in the Rockets series win was Olajuwon's performance. Olajuwon outscored Ewing in every game of the series, while Ewing outblocked (4.3 to 3.9 bpg) and outrebounded him (12.4 rpg to 9.1 rpg). Ewing set a then NBA Finals record with a total of 30 blocks.

1994 NBA Finals	Gm 1	Gm 2	Gm 3	Gm 4	Gm 5	Gm 6	Gm 7	Totals
Hakeem Olajuwon	28	25	21	32	27	30	25	26.9 ppg 50.0% fg 9.1 rpg 3.6 apg 3.9 bpg
Patrick Ewing	23	16	18	16	25	17	17	18.9 ppg 36.4% fg 12.4 rpg 1.7 apg 4.3 bpg

Telecast interruption

During Game 5, most NBC affiliates split the coverage of the game between NFL Hall of Famer O. J. Simpson's slow speed freeway chase with the LAPD. At the time, Simpson had been an NFL analyst on NBC.

The coverage was presented on a split screen, with the game taking up the smaller portion of the television screen on the left, while live coverage of the chase was shown in a bigger screen on the right. The audio came from the chase as narrated by NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw.

KNBC in Los Angeles, serving the media market where the police were tracking Simpson, left the Game 5 broadcast completely for the chase with local coverage narrated by Paul Moyer and Colleen Williams; the station did not even put up a split screen until the end of the game, which was still close at the time. By this point, Simpson had returned to his mansion in Brentwood and had surrendered to police.

A complete re–broadcast of Game 5, with natural crowd audio substituting for the parts for which NBC did not provide audio, is part of the DVD release of this series from Warner Home Video.

Preceded by 1993

NBA Finals 1994

Succeeded by 1995