2. Houston Rockets over Orlando Magic, 1995
This is another tale of defending champion cast in the role of underdog against a talented upstart.
The Rockets had limped to a 47-35 record in 1994-95, good for only sixth place in the Western Conference, but then rolled through the conference’s top three seeds—Utah (60-22), Phoenix (59-23) and San Antonio (62-20) to reach the Finals.
Orlando had finished atop the Eastern Conference and survived Michael Jordan and the Bulls in the conference semifinals and a seven-game tussle with Indiana in the conference finals.
With young stars Shaquille O’Neal and Anfernee Hardaway, Orlando was expected to make Houston disappear like magic.
But in Game 1, Nick Anderson missed four straight free throws in the final three seconds of regulation and Kenny Smith hit one of his Finals-record seven 3-pointers with 1.6 seconds left to force overtime.
Hakeem Olajuwon tipped in Clyde Drexler’s miss with 0.3 seconds left in overtime for a 120-118 Rockets win.
Olajuwon led Houston with 31 points while Drexler and Smith each tossed in 23. O’Neal was huge—26 points, 16 rebounds, nine assists—and Hardaway also scored 26 points. Anderson finished with 22, but his 0-for-4 night at the foul line would plague him for the remainder of his career.
Olajuwon had 34 points and 11 boards in Game 2, but Sam Cassell stole the show with 31 points off the bench as the Rockets took a commanding 2-0 lead on the road with a 117-106 win.
Drexler chipped in with 23 points for Houston. Orlando’s duo of O’Neal and Hardaway combined for 65 points, but the Rockets reserves outscored the Magic bench 41-11.
At The Summit in Houston for Game 3, Olajuwon finished with 31 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists in Houston’s 106-103 win. Drexler finished with 25 points and 13 boards and Robert Horry tossed in 20 points. O’Neal had 28 points and 10 rebounds for Orlando and Hardaway went for 19 points and 14 assists.
Game 4 was all Houston, as Olajuwon wrapped up Finals MVP honors with 35 points and 15 rebounds in the Rockets’ 113-101 win and an unexpected sweep. Mario Elie emerged with 22 points in Game 4 and Horry added 21 points and 13 boards.
O’Neal and Hardaway scored 25 points each in the loss for the Magic.
Houston’s title run was over—the Rockets haven’t been as far as the conference semifinals since.
But Orlando’s window slammed shut as well after O’Neal departed in the summer of 1996 as a free agent. It would be 14 years before the Magic would get back to the Finals.