![]() The acquisition of franchise player James Harden in 2012 launched the Rockets back into perennial championship contention throughout the rest of the 2010s, with no losing seasons in Harden's nine-season tenure with the team. Each one of the aging trio had left the team by 2001, and the Rockets of the early 21st century, led by superstars Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming, followed the trend of consistent regular-season respectability followed by playoff underachievement as both players struggled with injuries After Yao's early retirement in 2011, the Rockets entered a period of rebuilding, completely dismantling and retooling their roster. The Rockets acquired all-star forward Charles Barkley in 1996, but the presence of three of the NBA's 50 greatest players of all-time (Olajuwon, Drexler, and Barkley) was not enough to propel Houston past the Western Conference Finals. Houston, which finished the season with a 47–35 record and was seeded sixth in the Western Conference during the 1995 Playoffs, became the lowest-seeded team in NBA history to win the title. Olajuwon-led Rockets went to the 1994 NBA Finals and won franchise's first championship against Patrick Ewing and the New York Knicks. The following season, the Rockets reinforced by another All-Star, Clyde Drexler, repeated as champions in the 1995 NBA Finals, sweeping the Orlando Magic, who were led by a young Shaquille O'Neal and Penny Hardaway, in four games. Rudy Tomjanovich took over as head coach midway through the 1991–92 season, ushering in the most successful period in franchise history. The Rockets continued to reach the playoffs throughout the 1980s, but failed to advance past the first round for several years following a second-round defeat to the Seattle SuperSonics in 1987. Nicknamed the "Twin Towers", they led the team to the 1986 NBA Finals-the second NBA Finals appearance in franchise history-where Houston was once again defeated by the Boston Celtics. In the 1984 NBA Draft, the Rockets drafted Center Hakeem Olajuwon, who would be paired with 7 feet 4 inches (2.24 m) Ralph Sampson, forming one of the tallest front courts in the NBA. ![]() ![]() As of 2019, the 1980–81 Rockets are the last team since the 1954–55 Minneapolis Lakers to make it all the way to the NBA Finals with a losing record. Led by Malone, the Rockets stunned the entire league by making their first NBA Finals appearance in 1981, where they were defeated in six games by the Boston Celtics, led by Larry Bird and future Rockets head coach Kevin McHale. Despite their losing record, they qualified for the playoffs. During the 1980–81 season, the Rockets finished the regular season with a 40–42 record. Malone went on to win the NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award twice and led Houston to the Conference Finals in his first year with the team. The Rockets did not finish a season with a winning record until the 1976–77 season, when they traded for Center Moses Malone. In the 1968 NBA Draft, the Rockets, picking first overall, selected Power Forward Elvin Hayes, who would lead the team to its first playoff appearance in his rookie season. The Rockets won only 15 games in their debut season as a franchise in 1967. In 1971, the Rockets moved to Houston, Texas. The team was established as the San Diego Rockets, an expansion team originally based in San Diego, California in 1967. The team plays its home games at the Toyota Center, located in Downtown Houston. The Rockets are a member of and play in the Southwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division. The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston, Texas.
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