The

1995–96 NBA season The 1995–96 NBA season was the 50th season of the National Basketball Association (NBA), though the 50th anniversary was not celebrated until the following season. The Chicago Bulls defeated the Seattle SuperSonics 4 games to 2 in the NBA Fina ...

was the 29th season for the

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 of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA) ...

in the

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

, and their 25th season in

Houston, Texas Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

. During the off-season, the Rockets signed free agents Mark Bryant and Eldridge Recasner. After two straight NBA championships, the team changed their primary logo, which showed a light blue rocket flying past a red basketball with the team name "Rockets", and added new pinstripe uniforms adding dark navy blue to their color scheme. The Rockets got off to a fast start by winning ten of their first eleven games of the regular season. However, injuries would be an issue all year, as

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

only played 52 games due to knee and ankle injuries, while

Sam Cassell Samuel James Cassell Sr. (born November 18, 1969) is an American professional basketball coach and former point guard who serves as an assistant coach for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Drafted 24th overall in th ...

only played 61 games due to elbow and foot injuries, and

Mario Elie Mario Antoine Elie (born November 26, 1963) is an American former professional basketball coach and player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Elie grew up in New York City and played college basketball for the American International ...

only played just 45 games due to wrist and arm injuries. At mid-season, the Rockets signed free agent

Sam Mack Sam Mack (born May 26, 1970) is an American former professional basketball player. The 6'7" shooting guard from Dolton, Illinois played with five different NBA teams over a 10-year span and has had a 20-year international basketball career. Col ...

, who previously played in the

Continental Basketball Association The Continental Basketball Association (CBA), originally known as the Eastern Pennsylvania Basketball League, and later as the Eastern Professional Basketball League and the Eastern Basketball Association, was a men's professional basketball m ...

, as the team held a 31–18 record at the All-Star break. Despite the injuries and a 7-game losing streak in March, the Rockets finished in third place in the Midwest Division with a 48–34 record, and earned the #5 seed in the Western Conference.

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

averaged 26.9 points, 10.9 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 1.6 steals and 2.9 blocks per game, and was named to the

All-NBA Second 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 sel ...

, and to the

NBA All-Defensive Second Team The NBA All-Defensive Team is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) honor given since the 1968–69 NBA season to the best defensive players during the regular season. The All-Defensive Team is generally composed of ten players in two ...

, while Drexler averaged 19.3 points, 7.2 rebounds, 5.8 assists and 2.0 steals per game. In addition, Cassell played a sixth man role, averaging 14.5 points and 4.6 assists per game off the bench, while

Robert Horry Robert Keith Horry ( ; born August 25, 1970) is an American former professional basketball player and current sports commentator. Horry was a member of seven championship winning teams and is considered, by some, to be one of the most clutch sho ...

provided the team with 12.0 points, 5.8 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 1.6 steals and 1.5 blocks per game, and also led them with 142 three-point field goals, Elie provided with 11.1 points per game, and Mack contributed 10.8 points per game. Chucky Brown averaged 8.6 points and 5.4 rebounds per game, while Bryant provided with 8.6 points and 4.9 rebounds per game off the bench, three-point specialist Kenny Smith contributed 8.5 points and 3.6 assists per game, and Recasner contributed 6.9 points and 2.7 assists per game. Olajuwon and Drexler were both selected for the 1996 NBA All-Star Game in

San Antonio, Texas San Antonio ( ; Spanish for "Anthony of Padua, Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the List of Texas metropolitan areas, third-largest metropolitan area in Texa ...

. Olajuwon also finished in fourth place in

Most Valuable Player In team sports, a most valuable player (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 particular competition, or ...

voting, and in fifth place in Defensive Player of the Year voting, while Cassell finished in fourth place in Sixth Man of the Year voting, and head coach

Rudy Tomjanovich Rudolph Tomjanovich Jr. (born November 24, 1948) is an American former professional basketball player and coach. He won two NBA Championships with the Houston Rockets (1994, 1995) and coached Team USA to the gold medal in men's basketball at the ...

finished in fifth place in

Coach of the Year Many sports leagues, sportswriting associations, and other organizations confer "Coach of the Year" awards. In some sports — including baseball and association football — the award is called the "Manager of the Year" award. Some of the ...

voting. In the Western Conference First Round of the

1996 NBA playoffs The 1996 NBA playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 1995–96 season. The tournament concluded with the Eastern Conference champion Chicago Bulls defeating the Western Conference champion Seattle Supe ...

, the Rockets defeated the 4th-seeded

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 Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NBA ...

in four games; All-Star guard

Magic Johnson Earvin "Magic" Johnson Jr. (born August 14, 1959) is an American businessman and former professional basketball player. Often regarded as the greatest point guard of all time, Johnson List of NBA players who have spent their entire career w ...

had come out of his retirement midway through the regular season, and would retire again after the Lakers' loss to the Rockets. However, the Rockets would be swept in the Western Conference Semi-finals by the Seattle SuperSonics in four straight games. The SuperSonics would reach the 1996 NBA Finals, but eventually fell in six games to the

Michael Jordan Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17, 1963), also known by his initials MJ, is an American businessman and former professional basketball player, who is currently a minority owner of the Charlotte Hornets of the National Basketball Ass ...

-led

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 Central Division of the Eastern Conference. The team was founded on January 16 ...

. Following the season, Cassell, Horry, Brown and Bryant were all traded to the

Phoenix Suns The Phoenix Suns are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Suns compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NBA), We ...

, while Smith signed as a free agent with 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 Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), East ...

, and Recasner signed with the

Atlanta Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Easte ...

. The Rockets' new primary logo and uniforms both remained in use until 2003.

Offseason

Draft picks

Roster

Regular season

Season standings

:z – clinched division title :y – clinched division title :x – clinched playoff spot

Record vs. opponents

Game log

Playoffs

, - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 1 , April 25 , @ L.A. Lakers
W 87–83
,

(33) , Horry, Olajuwon (7) , Drexler,

Smith Smith may refer to: People and fictional characters * Metalsmith, or simply smith, a craftsman fashioning tools or works of art out of various metals * Smith (given name) * Smith (surname), a family name originating in England ** List of people ...

(4) ,

Great Western Forum The Kia Forum, also known as Los Angeles Forum and formerly Great Western Forum, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Inglewood, California, United States, adjacent to Los Angeles. Located on West Manchester Boulevard, with Laffit Pincay Jr., P ...

17,505 , 1–0 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 2 , April 27 , @ L.A. Lakers
L 94–104
,

(22) , Horry, Olajuwon (8) ,

(8) ,

17,505 , 1–1 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 3 , April 30 , L.A. Lakers
W 104–98
,

(30) ,

(10) ,

(11) , The Summit
16,285 , 2–1 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 4 , May 2 , L.A. Lakers
W 102–94
,

(25) ,

(11) , Olajuwon, Drexler (7) , The Summit
16,285 , 3–1 , - , - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 1 , May 4 , @

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

L 75–108
,

(18) ,

(9) , Kenny Smith (5) , KeyArena
17,072 , 0–1 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 2 , May 6 , @

L 101–105
,

(19) ,

(16) , Kenny Smith (7) , KeyArena
17,072 , 0–2 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 3 , May 10 ,

L 112–115
,

(28) ,

(13) , Kenny Smith (11) , The Summit
16,285 , 0–3 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 4 , May 12 ,

L 107–114 (OT)
,

(26) ,

(15) , Drexler, Cassell (6) , The Summit
16,611 , 0–4 , -

Player statistics

Season

Playoffs

Player Statistics Citation:

Awards and records

* During the preseason period, the Rockets would win the 1995 McDonald's Championship championship from October 19-21, winning the championship match over Italy's Buckler Beer Bologna.

Season

was named to the

, as well as the

Transactions

Trades

Free agents

Additions

Subtractions

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1995-96 Houston Rockets season Houston Rockets seasons 1995 in sports in Texas 1996 in sports in Texas 1995 in Houston 1996 in Houston

Offseason

Draft picks

Roster

Regular season

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Game log

Playoffs

Player statistics

Season

Playoffs

Awards and records

Season

Transactions

Trades

Free agents

Additions

Subtractions

See also

References