The Houston Rockets two NBA Championships both came in the 90s, despite fielding relatively strong teams in the 70s and 80s with Moses Malone, Calvin Murphy, Rudy Tomjanovich and Mike Newlin. They were also able to get Rick Barry late in the 1979 season and fielded a deep roster which included the likes of Mike Dunleavy, Tom Henderson, Bill Willoughby and Major Jones. They surprisingly made the Finals in the 1980-81 season, despite having a losing record of 40-42 and the sixth seed in the Playoffs. They beat the Los Angeles Lakers, San Antonio Spurs and Kansas City Kings en route to a showdown against the Boston Celtics. They lost four games to two though, despite winning game two in Boston Garden.
The Rockets made the Finals again in the 1985-86 NBA season, they assembled a team around the core of Ralph Sampson, Hakeem Olajuwon, Lewis Lloyd, John Lucas, and Robert Reid. On their way to the finals, the Rockets beat Sacramento, Denver and the defending champion Lakers. They would face the Celtics yet again after losing to them years before. This time around they had the twin towers of Sampson and Olajuwon but would still lose 4 games to 2 despite the excellent play of Olajuwon.
They wouldn't reach the finals again in the 80s as they would be eliminated in consecutive years in the first round from 1987-1991. They would regain their playoff swagger during the 1992-93 season under the tutelage of head coach Rudy Tomjanovich. They would lose in the conference semifinals to the Seattle Supersonics in a game seven thriller. Nevertheless the team made a strong step in the right direction.
By the 1993-94 season, the Rockets were already cashing in on their potential. The Rockets started the season15-0, tying the NBA record for the best start to a season. They would go on to win 58 games and Hakeem Olajuwon would win both the MVP and the Defensive Player of the Year awards. Rudy Tomjanovich would win his first championship and the first championship in Rockets' history. The Rockets would win another championship in the 1994-95 season, despite the team's early struggles and making the playoffs as just the number six seed. Rudy Tomjanovich would then utter the now famous words of "Never underestimate the heart of a champion!"
Both championship squads can lay claim to being the greatest team in franchise history but I believe that the 1993-94 Rockets team is has a slight edge over the 1994-95 team. The 1993-94 team saw their franchise player Hakeem Olajuwon win both the MVP and Defensive Player of the Year award. They dominated the regular season and bulldozed their way to the Finals. They showed their championship pedigree by beating the New York Knicks in a seven game thriller that catapulted the team to greatness.
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