The 1994 NBA Finals was the championship round of the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...

(NBA)'s 1993–94 season, and the culmination of the season's playoffs. The Western Conference champion

Houston Rockets The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston. The Rockets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member team of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division. The team plays its ho ...

played the Eastern Conference champion

New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the National Basketball Associat ...

for the championship, with the Rockets holding

home-court advantage In team sports, the term home advantage – also called home ground, home field, home-field advantage, home court, home-court advantage, defender's advantage or home-ice advantage – describes the benefit that the home team is said to gai ...

in the

best-of-seven There are a number of formats used in various levels of competition in sports and games to determine an overall champion. Some of the most common are the ''single elimination'', the ''best-of-'' series, the ''total points series'' more commonly k ...

series. The Rockets defeated the Knicks 4 games to 3 to win the team's first

NBA championship The NBA Finals is the annual championship series of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Eastern and Western Conference champions play a best-of-seven game series to determine the league champion. The team that wins the series is awa ...

. This matchup was

Hakeem Olajuwon Hakeem Abdul Olajuwon (; ; born January 21, 1963), nicknamed "the Dream", is a Nigerian Americans, Nigerian-American former professional basketball player. From 1984 to 2002, he played Center (basketball), center in the National Basketball Ass ...

's second

NBA Finals The NBA Finals is the annual championship series of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Eastern and Western Conference champions play a best-of-seven game series to determine the league champion. The team that wins the series is awa ...

appearance, his other being in

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...

, where

Larry Bird Larry Joe Bird (born December 7, 1956) is an American former professional basketball player, coach, and executive in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "the Hick from French Lick" and "Larry Legend", Bird is widely regarded a ...

and the

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. Founded in 1946 as one of t ...

defeated the Houston Rockets four games to two. The series was

Patrick Ewing Patrick Aloysius Ewing (born August 5, 1962) is a Jamaican-American basketball coach and former professional player who is the head coach of the Georgetown University men's team. He played most of his career as the starting center for the N ...

's first

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 1973 NBA World Championship Series was the championship series of the 1972–73 National Basketball Association (NBA) season, and the culmination of that season's playoffs. The Eastern Conference champion New York Knicks defeated the Weste ...

. The Knicks also hoped to impress their new owners

Viacom Viacom, an abbreviation of Video and Audio Communications, may refer to: * Viacom (1952–2006), a former American media conglomerate * Viacom (2005–2019), a former company spun off from the original Viacom * Viacom18, a joint venture between Par ...

, who had just bought Paramount Communications (formerly

Gulf+Western Gulf and Western Industries, Inc. (stylized as Gulf+Western) was an American conglomerate. Originally, the company focused on manufacturing and resource extraction. Beginning in 1966, and continuing throughout the 1960s and 1970s, the company ...

), their longtime owners (after the series however, Viacom sold the Knicks and the rest of the

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylva ...

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 The University of Houston (UH) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1927, UH is a member of the University of Houston System and the List of universities in Texas by enrollment, university in Texas ...

and Ewing was with

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...

, 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 Timothy Theodore Duncan (born April 25, 1976) is an American former professional basketball player. Nicknamed "the Big Fundamental", he is widely regarded as the greatest power forward of all time and one of the greatest players in NBA histor ...

would later set the record for most blocks in a Finals series (2003) with 32 blocks in six games while

Dwight Howard Dwight David Howard II (born December 8, 1985) is an American professional basketball player for the Taoyuan Leopards of the T1 League. He is an NBA champion, eight-time All-Star, eight-time All-NBA Team honoree, five-time All-Defensive Team ...

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 The Orlando Magic are an American professional basketball team based in Orlando, Florida. The Magic compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The franchise was establ ...

. 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

, 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 The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Lakers play their ...

in and . In addition, the Knicks set a record for most playoff games played in one season, with 25. The

Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division and play their home games at Li ...

tied this record in . The

, coached by

Doc Rivers Glenn Anton "Doc" Rivers (born October 13, 1961) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is the head coach for the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). After playing for Marquette Universit ...

, 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 Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

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 The Stanley Cup Finals in ice hockey (also known as the Stanley Cup Final among various media, french: Finale de la Coupe Stanley) is the National Hockey League's (NHL) championship series to determine the winner of the Stanley Cup, North America ...

). For his efforts Olajuwon was named

NBA Finals Most Valuable Player The Bill Russell NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award (formerly known as the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award) is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) award given since the 1969 NBA Finals. The award is decided by a panel of e ...

. 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 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

in 1988.

NBC Sports NBC Sports is an American programming division of the broadcast network NBC, owned and operated by NBC Sports Group division of NBCUniversal and subsidiary of Comcast. The division is responsible for sports broadcasts on the network, and its d ...

used

Ahmad Rashad Ahmad Rashad (born Robert Earl Moore; November 19, 1949) is an American sportscaster and former professional football player. He was the fourth overall selection of the 1972 NFL Draft, taken by the St. Louis Cardinals. He was known as Bobby Moor ...

(Knicks sideline) and Hannah Storm (Rockets sideline).

Marv Albert Marv Albert (born Marvin Philip Aufrichtig; June 12, 1941) is an American retired sportscaster. Honored for his work as a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame, he was commonly referred to as "the voice of basketball". From 1967 to 2004, he ...

and

Matt Guokas Matthew George Guokas Jr. (; born February 25, 1944) is an American former professional basketball player and coach. His father, Matt Sr. and uncle, Al, have also played in the NBA. Guokas and his father, Matt Sr., were the first father-son ...

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

Background

Houston Rockets

The Rockets chose

as the first overall pick in the

1984 NBA draft The 1984 NBA draft was the 37th annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). It was held at the Felt Forum at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York, on June 19, 1984, before the 1984–85 season. The draft is generally c ...

. Olajuwon's first nine NBA seasons included numerous All-Star, All-NBA and All-Defensive selections, but the closest he got to a championship was in , when the Rockets fell two games short of a title against a powerful

team. By his tenth season, Olajuwon became a more complete player, and he led the Rockets to a 15–0 start en route to a 58–24 record. But after a four-game defeat of the

Portland Trail Blazers The Portland Trail Blazers (colloquially known as the Blazers) are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. The Trail Blazers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Con ...

in the first round, they blew a pair of big fourth quarter leads at home and lost to the

Phoenix Suns The Phoenix Suns are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Suns are the only team in t ...

to begin the second round (in the process earning a derisive nickname of 'Choke City' by the

Houston Chronicle The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Texas, United States. , it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. With it ...

). In response, the Rockets used the headline as motivation, overcoming a 0–2 deficit to defeat the Suns in seven games (earning the nickname '

Clutch City Clutch City is a nickname given to the city of Houston, Texas after the city's National Basketball Association (NBA) club, the Houston Rockets. Background "Choke City" was a ''Houston Chronicle'' front-page headline in 1994, given to the city of H ...

'). In the conference finals, Houston defeated the

Utah Jazz The Utah Jazz are an American professional basketball team based in Salt Lake City. The Jazz compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference, Northwest Division (NBA), ...

in five games to claim their third conference title. Olajuwon won the

MVP In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

and Defensive Player of the Year awards at season's end.

New York Knicks

Like Olajuwon,

was a first overall pick of the NBA draft. Ewing was picked by the Knicks in the 1985 draft, and won Rookie of the Year that season. But despite earning All-Star accolades of his own, the Knicks teams he played with only made it past the first round twice during his first six seasons (in 1989 and

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

). In the 1991 off-season, the Knicks hired

Pat Riley Patrick James Riley (born March 20, 1945) is an American professional basketball executive, former coach, and former player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He has been the team president of the Miami Heat since 1995, and he also se ...

as head coach. In contrast to the fast-paced style of

Showtime Showtime or Show Time may refer to: Film * ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film * ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur Television Networks and channels * Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global w ...

he used with the

, Riley decided to go for a more deliberate and physical approach in New York. Aided by the likes of

Charles Oakley Charles Oakley (born December 18, 1963) is an American former professional basketball player. Oakley played for the Chicago Bulls, New York Knicks, Toronto Raptors, Washington Wizards, and Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association ...

, Anthony Mason, John Starks and Charles Smith, Ewing and the Knicks rose to prominence under Riley, and in 1994, they won 57 games to finish second in the Eastern Conference. Their playoff run began with a 3–1 victory over their cross-river rival

New Jersey Nets New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

. However, they had a hard time disposing a

Chicago Bulls The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded on January 1 ...

team that lost

Michael Jordan Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17, 1963), also known by his initials MJ, is an American businessman and former professional basketball player. His biography on the official NBA website states: "By acclamation, Michael Jordan is the g ...

to retirement (which lasted until the final months of the following season), but managed to win all four home games to advance. In the conference finals, they were pitted against the upstart

Indiana Pacers The Indiana Pacers are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis. The Pacers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The Pacers were first esta ...

, who were led by

Reggie Miller Reginald Wayne Miller (born August 24, 1965) is an American former professional basketball player who played his entire 18-year National Basketball Association (NBA) career with the Indiana Pacers. Miller was known for his precision three-p ...

. Though the Pacers gave the Knicks a scare, the latter's experience proved too much as they won the series in seven games.

Road to the Finals

Regular season series

The

won both games in the regular season series:

1994 NBA Finals rosters

Houston Rockets

New York Knicks

Series summary

Game 1

Game 2

Game 3

Game 4

Game 5

Game 6

Game 7

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.

Player statistics

;Houston Rockets , - , align="left" , , , 2 , , 0 , , 13.5 , , .200 , , .286 , , .500 , , 3.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.5 , , 0.5 , , 4.0 , - , align="left" , , , 7 , , 0 , , 22.6 , , .422 , , .438 , , .926 , , 3.1 , , 2.9 , , 1.3 , , 0.3 , , 10.0 , - , align="left" , , , 1 , , 0 , , 2.0 , , .000 , , .000 , , .000 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , - , align="left" , , , 7 , , 0 , , 11.3 , , .250 , , .400 , , .833 , , 1.0 , , 1.0 , , 0.3 , , 0.1 , , 2.4 , - , align="left" , , , 7 , , 0 , , 17.3 , , .579 , , .000 , , .750 , , 3.6 , , 0.4 , , 0.4 , , 0.1 , , 7.1 , - , align="left" , , , 7 , , 7 , , 37.9 , , .324 , , .306 , , .619 , , 6.1 , , 3.7 , , 1.3 , , 0.6 , , 10.3 , - , align="left" , , , 3 , , 0 , , 2.3 , , .000 , , .000 , , .000 , , 0.3 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , - , align="left" , , , 7 , , 7 , , 37.7 , , .365 , , .225 , , .682 , , 3.3 , , 2.9 , , 0.6 , , 0.0 , , 13.4 , -! style="background:#FDE910;" , align="left" , , , 7 , , 7 , , 43.1 , , .500 , , 1.000 , , .860 , , 9.1 , , 3.6 , , 1.6 , , 3.9 , , 26.9 , - , align="left" , , , 7 , , 7 , , 25.4 , , .389 , , .357 , , 1.000 , , 1.4 , , 3.1 , , 0.7 , , 0.0 , , 5.6 , - , align="left" , , , 7 , , 7 , , 39.6 , , .519 , , .000 , , .500 , , 11.3 , , 3.3 , , 0.9 , , 0.0 , , 9.3 ;New York Knicks , - , align="left" , , , 7 , , 0 , , 11.4 , , .323 , , .125 , , 1.000 , , 0.9 , , 2.4 , , 0.4 , , 0.1 , , 3.3 , - , align="left" , , , 2 , , 0 , , 5.5 , , 1.000 , , .000 , , .000 , , 1.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 2.0 , - , align="left" , , , 5 , , 0 , , 7.6 , , .200 , , 1.000 , , .500 , , 0.4 , , 0.4 , , 0.0 , , 0.2 , , 1.6 , - , align="left" , , , 7 , , 7 , , 44.0 , , .363 , , .200 , , .714 , , 12.4 , , 1.7 , , 1.3 , , 4.3 , , 18.9 , - , align="left" , , , 7 , , 7 , , 38.0 , , .467 , , .436 , , .824 , , 3.0 , , 6.0 , , 2.4 , , 0.1 , , 16.4 , - , align="left" , , , 7 , , 0 , , 29.3 , , .468 , , .000 , , .640 , , 6.9 , , 1.3 , , 0.7 , , 0.0 , , 8.6 , - , align="left" , , , 7 , , 7 , , 40.7 , , .484 , , .000 , , .833 , , 11.9 , , 2.4 , , 1.1 , , 0.1 , , 11.0 , - , align="left" , , , 7 , , 7 , , 26.7 , , .441 , , .000 , , .684 , , 4.3 , , 1.7 , , 0.6 , , 1.0 , , 9.3 , - , align="left" , , , 7 , , 7 , , 41.9 , , .368 , , .320 , , .769 , , 3.1 , , 5.9 , , 1.6 , , 0.1 , , 17.7 , - , align="left" , , , 4 , , 0 , , 1.8 , , .000 , , .000 , , .000 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.3 , , 0.0

Telecast interruption

During Game 5, most

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

affiliates split the coverage of the game between NFL Hall of Famer O. J. Simpson's slow speed freeway chase with the

LAPD The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), officially known as the City of Los Angeles Police Department, is the municipal police department of Los Angeles, California. With 9,974 police officers and 3,000 civilian staff, it is the third-large ...

. At the time, Simpson had been an NFL analyst on

. 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 NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, a division of NBCUniversal, which is, in turn, a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's var ...

anchor

Tom Brokaw Thomas John Brokaw (; born February 6, 1940) is an American retired network television journalist and author. He first served as the co-anchor of ''The Today Show'' from 1976 to 1981 with Jane Pauley, then as the anchor and managing editor of '' ...

. KNBC in Los Angeles, serving the

media market A media market, broadcast market, media region, designated market area (DMA), television market area, or simply market is a region where the population can receive the same (or similar) television and radio station offerings, and may also incl ...

where the police were tracking Simpson, left the Game 5 broadcast completely for the chase with local coverage narrated by

Paul Moyer Paul Moyer (born June 13, 1941) is an American journalist. He co-anchored the 5 PM and 11 PM weekday editions of KNBC-TV's ''Channel 4 News'' with Colleen Williams for a decade after earlier co-anchoring with Kelly Lange.Nieto, Rebecca (2009-05- ...

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 Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Inc. (formerly known as Warner Home Video and WCI Home Video and sometimes credited as Warner Home Entertainment) is the home video distribution division of Warner Bros. It was founded in 1978 as WCI Home Video ...

Aftermath

The Rockets would repeat as NBA champions in

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

although their season record wasn't so promising. Plagued by a lack of chemistry, the Rockets were stuck in the middle of the conference standings most of the year. Then, as the NBA's trading deadline approached, on February 14, 1995, the Rockets acquired Hakeem Olajuwon's "

Phi Slama Jama Phi Slama Jama was a name given to the men's college basketball teams of the Houston Cougars from 1982 to 1984. Coined by former ''Houston Post'' sportswriter Thomas Bonk, the nickname was quickly adopted by the players and even appeared on team ...

" teammate

Clyde Drexler Clyde Austin Drexler (born June 22, 1962) is an American former professional basketball player and the commissioner of the Big3 3-on-3 basketball league. Nicknamed "Clyde the Glide", he played 15 seasons in the National Basketball Association ...

. The Rockets finished the regular season as the 6th seed but the team on the court at season's end was clearly better than its 47–35 record. The new Rockets team had only had about two months to gel. The playoffs started rough for Houston, the team down 2 games to 1 to Utah in the First Round. However, the Rockets battled back and won that series, stealing the deciding Game 5 in Utah. The Rockets' ability to overcome adversity became more evident as the postseason wore on. They beat four 50-win squads (

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

Phoenix Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore * Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States Phoenix may also refer to: Mythology Greek mythological figures * Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...

San Antonio ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= U.S. state, State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , s ...

and

Orlando Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures rele ...

) to win the NBA championship, becoming the lowest seed ever to win it all. Also in 1995, the Knicks enjoyed another strong season, with 55 wins. However, they were eliminated in seven games by the

during the second round as Pacers guard

's 'Knick Killer' legacy continued. After the season

departed for the

Miami Heat The Miami Heat are an American professional basketball team based in Miami. The Heat compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern Conference Southeast Division (NBA), Southe ...

, with whom he would win three championships, one as the head coach and two as its president. The Knicks would make the finals again in

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

, but fell to the Spurs in five games, and have not returned since. Before this victory, only the

Houston Oilers The Houston Oilers were a professional American football team that played in Houston from its founding in 1960 to 1996 before relocating to Memphis, and later Nashville, Tennessee becoming the Tennessee Titans. The Oilers began play in 1960 as ...

AFL AFL may refer to: Sports * American Football League (AFL), a name shared by several separate and unrelated professional American football leagues: ** American Football League (1926) (a.k.a. "AFL I"), first rival of the National Football Leagu ...

two 2 (two) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 1 and preceding 3. It is the smallest and only even prime number. Because it forms the basis of a duality, it has religious and spiritual significance in many cultur ...

championships at the close of the 1960 season and 1961 season and the Houston Aeros' two WHA Avco World Trophies in

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; f ...

and

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

represented Houston's only professional championships. The 1994 NBA Championship represented the city of Houston's first professional championship since those two teams, and the first in a league that did not later merge. This was the last NBA Finals for three of the league's longest-tenured and most recognizable referees:

Darell Garretson Darell Lee Garretson (March 18, 1932 – April 21, 2008) was an American professional basketball referee in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for 27 years from 1967 to 1994 wearing uniform number 10, and he later served as NBA Supervisor ...

Jack Madden Jack Madden is an American retired professional basketball referee. He was born in Trenton, NJ.Pluto, Terry, 'Loose Balls: The Short, Wild Life of the American Basketball Association', New York: Simon & Schuster, 1990, , pp. 132–133 Madden ...

and

Jake O'Donnell James Michael "Jake" O'Donnell (born January 25, 1937 in Philadelphia) is a former sports official who worked as a National Basketball Association (NBA) referee for 28 seasons from 1967 to 1995, and also as an umpire in Major League Baseball for ...

. Garretson and Madden retired following the 1994 Finals, while O'Donnell worked the 1994-95 season, but did not work past the second round of the playoffs, marking the first time since

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 10, and August 6). The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history. Events Ja ...

O'Donnell did not officiate in the championship series. O'Donnell retired in December 1995 following the end of a lockout of NBA referees by Commissioner

David Stern David Joel Stern (September 22, 1942 – January 1, 2020) was an American lawyer and business executive who was the commissioner of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1984 to 2014. Stern oversaw NBA basketball's growth into one of ...

. Overall, as of 2019, Houston's teams in the "Big Four" major professional sports are 6–1 over their New York City counterparts in terms of playoff series. The Rockets, in addition to their 1994 triumph, also defeated the Knicks in the 1975 Eastern Conference First Round. The NFL's

(now

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division, and play their h ...

) followed with a victory over the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The J ...

in the 1991 AFC wild card round, and the

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 after ...

later prevailed over the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...

in three

MLB Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

postseason series during the 2010s ( 2015 ALWC,

2017 ALCS The 2017 American League Championship Series was a best-of-seven playoff pitting the Houston Astros against the New York Yankees for the American League pennant and the right to face the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 2017 World Series. The Astros d ...

, 2019 ALCS) The only time a New York-based team prevailed over Houston was in the 1986 NLCS, when the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

won over the then-NL member Astros.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1994 Nba Finals National Basketball Association Finals

Finals Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

Sports competitions in New York City Sports competitions in Houston

GMA Network television specials 1990s in Manhattan Madison Square Garden

Background

Houston Rockets

New York Knicks

Road to the Finals

Regular season series

1994 NBA Finals rosters

Houston Rockets

New York Knicks

Series summary

Game 1

Game 2

Game 3

Game 4

Game 5

Game 6

Game 7

Olajuwon vs. Ewing

Player statistics

Telecast interruption

Aftermath

See also

References