We continue our countdown of the five greatest championship runs in NBA history.
At number five, we had the 2017 Golden State Warriors and the Hampton Five, one of the most talented teams ever assembled.
At number four, we had the 1995–96 Chicago Bulls, who went 72–10 and dominated the NBA in Michael Jordan’s first full season back.
Now at number three, we have a completely different type of championship run.
The 1994–95 Houston Rockets weren’t historically dominant in the regular season. They didn’t enter the playoffs as the favorites. They didn’t even have home-court advantage in a single series.
They simply refused to die.
Michael Jordan Left. Hakeem Olajuwon Took Over.
When Michael Jordan retired in 1993, the NBA suddenly looked wide open.
Jordan and the Bulls had won three consecutive championships, and with the best player in basketball gone, teams around the league finally had an opportunity to take the throne.
Unfortunately for everybody else, Hakeem Olajuwon existed.
Houston won the 1994 NBA championship behind an incredible season from Hakeem, and one year later the Rockets entered the postseason trying to defend their title.
But this time, the road was much harder.
Houston finished just 47–35, earning the sixth seed in the Western Conference.
Hakeem remained spectacular, averaging 27.8 points, 10.8 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 1.8 steals and 3.4 blocks per game during the regular season.
Houston also made a massive midseason move, acquiring Clyde Drexler, giving Hakeem another future Hall of Famer for the championship push.
Still, a 47-win sixth seed wasn’t supposed to run through the Western Conference.
Nobody told Houston.
First Round: Rockets Beat the Jazz 3–2
Houston’s title defense immediately looked like it might end in the first round.
The Rockets faced the 60-win Utah Jazz, led by Karl Malone and John Stockton, and fell behind 2–1 in the best-of-five series.
That meant Houston’s season was one loss away from being over.
The defending champions responded.
Houston won Game 4 at home to force a decisive Game 5 in Utah.
Then the Rockets walked into Salt Lake City and eliminated the 60-win Jazz 95–91.
One contender down.
Things were about to get even harder.
Western Conference Semifinals: Rockets Come Back From 3–1 Against Phoenix
Next came the 59-win Phoenix Suns, led by Charles Barkley.
And once again, Houston looked finished.
Phoenix took a commanding 3–1 series lead.
The Rockets were one loss away from elimination for the second consecutive round, except this time they needed to win three straight games.
They did exactly that.
Houston survived Game 5 in overtime, returned home and won Game 6, setting up a winner-take-all Game 7 in Phoenix.
The Rockets completed the comeback with a 115–114 victory, sealed by Mario Elie’s famous “Kiss of Death” three-pointer from the corner.
From down 3–1.
Against a 59-win team.
Without home-court advantage.
Houston was somehow still alive.
Western Conference Finals: Hakeem vs. the MVP
If beating Utah and Phoenix wasn’t enough, Houston’s next opponent was the 62-win San Antonio Spurs.
And this series came with another storyline.
David Robinson had just won the 1995 NBA MVP.
Hakeem Olajuwon apparently took that personally.
What followed was one of the greatest individual playoff performances ever.
Hakeem averaged 35.3 points, 12.5 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 4.2 blocks per game in the series.
He completely controlled the matchup against the newly crowned MVP.
Houston won the first two games in San Antonio. The Spurs answered by winning Games 3 and 4 in Houston, tying the series.
The Rockets then went back to San Antonio and won Game 5 before finishing the job at home in Game 6.
Hakeem closed the series with 39 points, 17 rebounds and five blocks.
Houston beat the 62-win Spurs 4–2.
The sixth-seeded Rockets had now eliminated teams that won 60, 59 and 62 games.
And somehow, their most convincing series was still ahead of them.
NBA Finals: Rockets Sweep Shaq and Penny 4–0
Waiting in the NBA Finals were the 57-win Orlando Magic, led by Shaquille O’Neal and Penny Hardaway.
And this wasn’t just some young team that happened to sneak into the Finals.
Michael Jordan had returned to basketball late in the season, and Orlando had just eliminated Jordan and the Chicago Bulls 4–2 in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
The Magic then defeated Reggie Miller and the Indiana Pacers in seven games to win the Eastern Conference.
They were legitimate.
Houston didn’t care.
After spending the entire Western Conference playoffs fighting for survival, the Rockets completely flipped the script in the Finals.
They swept Orlando 4–0.
Hakeem once again dominated, averaging 32.8 points, 11.5 rebounds, 5.5 assists, 2.0 steals and 2.0 blocks per game in the Finals.
He outscored Shaq in every game of the series.
Houston completed the sweep with a 113–101 victory in Game 4, becoming back-to-back NBA champions.
Hakeem was named Finals MVP for the second consecutive year.
Think about that path.
The Magic were good enough to send Michael Jordan and the Bulls home.
The Rockets were good enough to send the Magic home without winning a single game.
47–35. Sixth Seed. No Home-Court Advantage. NBA Champions.
This is what makes the 1995 Houston Rockets’ championship run almost unbelievable.
Houston finished the regular season just 47–35, which left the defending champions as the sixth seed in the Western Conference.
That meant the Rockets did not have home-court advantage in the first round.
They didn’t have it in the second round.
They didn’t have it in the Western Conference Finals.
And they didn’t even have it in the NBA Finals.
Houston won the entire NBA championship without holding home-court advantage in a single series.
They became the first team in NBA history to win four playoff series without home-court advantage and the first No. 6 seed ever to win the NBA championship.
Then look at who they had to beat:
A 60-win Utah Jazz team in the first round.
A 59-win Phoenix Suns team in the second round.
A 62-win San Antonio Spurs team in the Western Conference Finals.
And a 57-win Orlando Magic team in the NBA Finals.
That’s four opponents with a combined 238 regular-season victories.
Houston had to begin every single series on the road, faced elimination five times during the first two rounds, came back from a 3–1 deficit against Phoenix and ultimately went through four teams that won at least 57 games.
And they did all of it as a sixth seed.
Hakeem elevated his game even further once the playoffs began, averaging 33.0 points, 10.3 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 1.2 steals and 2.8 blocks per game across the postseason.
This wasn’t the most dominant championship run ever.
It was something different.
It was survival.
When Michael Jordan initially walked away from basketball, the rest of the NBA probably thought the championship race had finally become a free-for-all.
Unfortunately for them, Hakeem Olajuwon existed.
The 1994–95 Houston Rockets are number three on my list of the greatest NBA championship runs of all time.
Two remain.
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