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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) Hugh Evans (2022) | |||||||||
Eastern Finals: | Magic defeated Pacers, 4–3 | |||||||||
Western Finals: | Rockets defeated Spurs, 4–2 | |||||||||
NBA Finals | ||||||||||
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← 1994 | ||||||||||
1996 → |
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 1995 playoffs. It was the second NBA Finals sweep in the 2–3–2 Finals format (after the Detroit Pistons did so against the Los Angeles Lakers in 1989). 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 by the New Jersey Devils that same year, when they won the Stanley Cup over the Detroit Red Wings.
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 consecutive free throws in the closing seconds of the game, and Kenny Smith hit a three-pointer, tying the game and sending it to overtime as well as setting a new record with the most three-pointers in an NBA Finals game with seven. 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 during Michael 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 the Chicago Bulls to win multiple championships in the 1990s.
The season-ending documentary Double Clutch by Hal Douglas, was released by NBA Entertainment to coincide with the Rockets' championship season.
This series was the first NBA Finals matchup of teams from Florida and Texas (followed by the Miami Heat and Dallas Mavericks in 2006 and 2011 and the Heat and San Antonio Spurs in 2013 and 2014) and the last sweep in the NBA Finals until 2002.
1995 NBA Playoffs[]
Houston Rockets (Western Conference Champion) | Orlando Magic (Eastern Conference Champion) | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
47–35 (.573)
3rd Midwest, 6th West, 11th Overall |
Regular season | 57–25 (.695)
1st Atlantic, 1st East, 4th Overall | ||
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 |
Series summary[]
Game | Date | Home Team | Result | Road Team |
---|---|---|---|---|
Game 1 | June 7 | Orlando | 118–120 (OT) | Houston |
Game 2 | June 9 | Orlando | 106–117 | Houston |
Game 3 | June 11 | Houston | 106–103 | Orlando |
Game 4 | June 14 | Houston | 113–101 | Orlando |
Preceded by 1994 |
NBA Finals 1995 |
Succeeded by 1996 |