The

2004–05 NBA season The 2004–05 NBA season was the 59th season of the National Basketball Association (NBA). It began on November 2, 2004 and ended June 23, 2005. The season ended with the San Antonio Spurs defeating the defending-champion Detroit Pistons, 4–3, i ...

was the Rockets' 38th season in 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 ...

, and their 34th season in 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 ...

. During the offseason, the Rockets acquired All-Star forward

Tracy McGrady Tracy Lamar McGrady Jr. (born May 24, 1979) is an American former professional basketball player, best known for his career in the National Basketball Association (NBA). McGrady is a seven-time NBA All-Star, seven-time All-NBA selection, two- ...

and

Juwan Howard Juwan Antonio Howard (born February 7, 1973) is an American former professional basketball player and current head coach of the Michigan Wolverines men's team. A one-time All-Star and one-time All-NBA power forward, he began his NBA career ...

from 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 ...

, acquired All-Star center

Dikembe Mutombo Dikembe Mutombo Mpolondo Mukamba Jean-Jacques Wamutombo (born June 25, 1966) is a Congolese-American former professional basketball player. Mutombo played 18 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Outside basketball, he has becom ...

from the

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 ...

, who acquired him from the

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 ...

, and signed free agent

Bob Sura Robert Sura Jr. (born March 25, 1973) is an American former professional basketball player who played ten seasons for five different teams in the National Basketball Association (NBA). At , , he played as a shooting guard and point guard. Earl ...

. The Rockets struggled with a 6–11 start to the season, then played around .500 as they traded Jim Jackson to the

New Orleans Hornets 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, ...

for

David Wesley David Barakau Wesley (born November 14, 1970) is an American former professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is the current television color analyst for the New Orleans Pelicans. He is the cou ...

in late December. The Rockets would later on win eight straight games in February, as McGrady and

Yao Ming Yao Ming (; born September 12, 1980) is a Chinese basketball executive and former professional player. He played for the Shanghai Sharks of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) and the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Associat ...

were both selected to play in the 2005 NBA All-Star Game at

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

. At midseason, the team traded

Maurice Taylor Maurice De Shawn Taylor (born October 30, 1976) is an American former professional basketball player. He played power forward and center positions. Originally from Detroit, Taylor played college basketball at Michigan and was selected by the L ...

to the

, and acquired Mike James from the

Milwaukee Bucks The Milwaukee Bucks are an American professional basketball team based in Milwaukee. The Bucks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded in 1968 ...

. The Rockets won their final seven games finishing third in the Southwest Division with a 51–31 record, which was their first 50-win season since

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

. However, in the first round of the

playoffs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

, they lost to their in-state rival, the

Dallas Mavericks The Dallas Mavericks (often referred to as the Mavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Dallas. The Mavericks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Conference (NBA), Western Conferenc ...

in seven games after taking a 2–0 series lead. Following the season, Sura retired.

Offseason

NBA Draft

Roster

Regular season

Tracy McGrady: 13 points in 35 seconds

One notable game during the season was the Rockets' December 9 matchup against the

San Antonio Spurs The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio. The Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference Southwest Division ( ...

. In the fourth quarter, at 44 seconds left, the score was 76-68 and the Spurs had the lead. With 35 seconds remaining,

made a three-pointer. Four seconds later,

Devin Brown Devin LaVell Brown (born December 30, 1978) is an American former professional basketball shooting guard who played 8 seasons in the National Basketball Association. Brown won an NBA championship as a member of the San Antonio Spurs in 2005. E ...

was fouled and made both of his free throws. With 24 seconds remaining, McGrady made another three-pointer. He was fouled by

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 ...

when he shot the ball. He went to the free throw line and made a free throw, converting a four-point play. With 16 seconds remaining, Scott Padgett intentionally fouled

, and, because the Rockets were over the foul limit, Duncan went to the free throw line and made both of his free throws. Five seconds later, McGrady made yet another three-pointer, this time over

Bruce Bowen Bruce Eric Bowen Jr. (born June 14, 1971) is an American former professional basketball player. Bowen played small forward and graduated from Edison High School and Cal State Fullerton. He went on to play for the National Basketball Association' ...

. This left the Rockets in a two-point deficit. San Antonio took a timeout. At 7.9 seconds remaining,

Brent Barry Brent Robert Barry (born December 31, 1971), also known by the nickname "Bones", is an American basketball executive, broadcaster and former player. He is the current vice president of basketball operations for the San Antonio Spurs. The shooti ...

inbounded the ball to Devin Brown. McGrady stole the ball from Brown and ran to the three-point line, where he made another three-pointer, which would be the game-winning shot. The performance is considered by some13 points, 33 seconds: The night Tracy McGrady was a basketball god - SBNation.com
/ref> to be one of McGrady's career highlights and become a '' Hall of Famer in 2017''.

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Game log

Playoffs

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Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

W 98–86
,

(34) ,

Mutombo Dikembe Mutombo Mpolondo Mukamba Jean-Jacques Wamutombo (born June 25, 1966) is a Congolese-American former professional basketball player. Mutombo played 18 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Outside basketball, he has becom ...

, Yao (8) ,

(8) ,

American Airlines Center The American Airlines Center (AAC) is a multi-purpose indoor arena located in the Victory Park neighborhood in downtown Dallas, Texas. The arena serves as the home of the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association and the Dallas S ...

20,678 , 1–0 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 2 , April 25 , @

W 113–111
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L 102–106
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(6) ,

Toyota Center Toyota Center is an indoor arena located in Houston. It is named after the Japanese automobile manufacturer Toyota. The arena is home to the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association (NBA), and it was once the home of the Houston ...

18,199 , 2–1 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 4 , April 30 ,

L 93–97
,

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L 100–103
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W 101–83
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L 76–116
,

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20,884 , 3–4 , -

Player statistics

Season

Playoffs

Awards and records

All-NBA Third Team The All-NBA Team is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) honor bestowed on the best players in the league following every NBA season. The voting is conducted by a global panel of sportswriters and broadcasters. The team has been sele ...

Offseason

NBA Draft

Roster

Regular season

Tracy McGrady: 13 points in 35 seconds

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Game log

Playoffs

Player statistics

Season

Playoffs

Awards and records

Transactions

References

See also