1994–95 NBA season

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1994–95 NBA season
League National Basketball Association
Sport Basketball
Duration November 4, 1994 – April 23, 1995
April 27 – June 4, 1995 (Playoffs)
June 7 – 14, 1995 (Finals)
TV partner/s NBC, TBS, TNT
Draft
Top draft pick Glenn Robinson
Picked by Milwaukee Bucks
Regular season
Top seed San Antonio Spurs
Season MVP David Robinson (San Antonio)
Top scorer Shaquille O'Neal (Orlando)
Playoffs
Eastern champions Orlando Magic
  Eastern runners-up Indiana Pacers
Western champions Houston Rockets
  Western runners-up San Antonio Spurs
Finals
Finals champions Houston Rockets
  Runners-up Orlando Magic
Finals MVP Hakeem Olajuwon (Houston)
NBA seasons
← 1993–94

1995–96 →

The 1994–95 NBA season was the 49th season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Houston Rockets defeating the Orlando Magic 4 games to 0 in the NBA Finals to repeat as champions.

Contents

[edit] Notable occurrences

Coaching changes
Offseason
Team 1993-94 coach 1994-95 coach
Dallas Mavericks Quinn Buckner Dick Motta
Los Angeles Clippers Bob Weiss Bill Fitch
Los Angeles Lakers Magic Johnson Del Harris
Minnesota Timberwolves Sidney Lowe Bill Blair
New Jersey Nets Chuck Daly Butch Beard
Philadelphia 76ers Fred Carter John Lucas
Portland Trail Blazers Rick Adelman P.J. Carlesimo
San Antonio Spurs John Lucas Bob Hill
Washington Bullets Wes Unseld Jim Lynam
In-season
Team Outgoing coach Incoming coach
Denver Nuggets Dan Issel Gene Littles
Gene Littles Bernie Bickerstaff
Golden State Warriors Don Nelson Bob Lanier
Miami Heat Kevin Loughery Alvin Gentry
  • The Houston Rockets became the lowest seeded team to ever win the NBA Finals, winning as the sixth seed in the Western Conference.
  • The 1995 NBA All-Star Game was played at America West Arena (now known as US Airways Center) in Phoenix, Arizona, with the West defeating the East 139–112. Mitch Richmond of the Sacramento Kings was named the game's MVP (Most Valuable Player).
  • Midway through the season, Michael Jordan returned to the Chicago Bulls after a failed attempt at a minor-league baseball career. His announcement consisted of a two-word fax: "I'm Back". Since the Bulls had already retired his number 23, he returned wearing number 45. However, he changed back to 23 during the playoffs.
  • An era came to an end as the Boston Celtics played their final season at the historic Boston Garden.
  • The Portland Trail Blazers played their final season at Memorial Coliseum.
  • The Chicago Bulls played their first game at the United Center.
  • The Cleveland Cavaliers played their first game at Gund Arena (now known as Quicken Loans Arena).
  • Due to extensive renovations to the Seattle Center Coliseum (now known as KeyArena), the Seattle SuperSonics played their home games at the Tacoma Dome, in nearby Tacoma, Washington.
  • Grant Hill became the first rookie in professional sports to lead fan balloting for the NBA All-Star Game.
  • The Orlando Magic became the first of the four late-1980s expansion franchises to reach the NBA Finals. They were swept in four straight games by the defending-champion Houston Rockets.
  • Lenny Wilkens passed Red Auerbach to become the NBA's all-time leader in wins, which stood for 15 years.
  • In an effort to increase scoring, the NBA's competition committee voted to shorten the three-point field goal line to a uniform 22 feet around the basket beginning this season and lasting through the 1996-97 NBA season.[1] Orlando Magic forward Dennis Scott set a then-single season record for most three-pointers made with 267 during the 1995-96 NBA season (Later surpassed by Ray Allen, who notched 269 three-pointers in the 2005–06 NBA season).[2] The NBA would revert back to its original three-point field goal parameters of 23 feet, 9 inches (22 feet at the corners) at the start of the 1997-98 NBA season.[3]
  • The Western Conference Finals series between the San Antonio Spurs and Houston Rockets was notable for the lack of home team success. The home team lost each of the first 5 games of the series, with the Rockets finally breaking through with a home win in Game 6.

Miami Heat made two blockbuster trades first one was 2 days before the season when Miami gave away Rony Seikaly for Billy Owens and Sasha Danilovic and then 2 games into the season after a game againest the Phoenix Suns Miami gave away Grant Long,Steve Smith and a 1996 1st round pick for Kevin Willis and a 1996 1st round pick

[edit] Standings

[edit] By division

Atlantic Division
W L PCT GB Home Road Div
y-Orlando Magic 57 25 .695 — 39-2 18-23 18-10
x-New York Knicks 55 27 .671 2 29-12 26-15 23-5
x-Boston Celtics 35 47 .427 22 20-21 15-26 14-14
Miami Heat 32 50 .390 25 22-19 10-31 9-19
New Jersey Nets 30 52 .366 27 20-21 10-31 13-15
Philadelphia 76ers 24 58 .293 33 14-27 10-31 12-16
Washington Bullets 21 61 .256 36 13-28 8-33 9-19


Central Division
W L PCT GB Home Road Div
y-Indiana Pacers 52 30 .634 – 33–8 19–22 18–10
x-Charlotte Hornets 50 32 .610 2 29–12 21–20 17–11
x-Chicago Bulls 47 35 .573 5 28–13 19–22 16–12
x-Cleveland Cavaliers 43 39 .524 9 26–15 17–24 17–11
x-Atlanta Hawks 42 40 .512 10 24–17 18–23 9–19
Milwaukee Bucks 34 48 .415 18 22–19 12–29 13–15
Detroit Pistons 28 54 .341 24 13–28 8–33 7–21


Midwest Division
W L PCT GB Home Road Div
y-San Antonio Spurs 62 20 .756 — 33–8 29–12 20–6
x-Utah Jazz 60 22 .732 2 33–8 27–14 17–9
x-Houston Rockets 47 35 .573 15 25–16 22–19 13–13
x-Denver Nuggets 41 41 .500 21 23–18 18–23 13–13
Dallas Mavericks 36 46 .439 26 19–22 17–24 11–15
Minnesota Timberwolves 21 61 .256 41 13–28 8–33 4–22


Pacific Division
W L PCT GB Home Road Div
y-Phoenix Suns 59 23 .720 — 32–9 27–14 23–7
x-Seattle SuperSonics 57 25 .695 2 32–9 25–16 16–14
x-Los Angeles Lakers 48 34 .585 11 29–12 19–22 15–15
x-Portland Trail Blazers 44 38 .537 15 26–15 18–23 17–13
Sacramento Kings 39 43 .476 20 27–14 12–29 17–13
Golden State Warriors 26 56 .317 33 15–26 11–30 11–19
Los Angeles Clippers 17 65 .207 42 13–28 4–37 6–24


[edit] By conference

# Eastern Conference
Team W L PCT GB
1 z-Orlando Magic 57 25 .695 –
2 y-Indiana Pacers 52 30 .634 5
3 x-New York Knicks 55 27 .671 2
4 x-Charlotte Hornets 50 32 .610 7
5 x-Chicago Bulls 47 35 .573 10
6 x-Cleveland Cavaliers 43 39 .524 14
7 x-Atlanta Hawks 42 40 .512 15
8 x-Boston Celtics 35 47 .427 22
9 Milwaukee Bucks 34 48 .415 23
10 Miami Heat 32 50 .390 25
11 New Jersey Nets 30 52 .366 27
12 Detroit Pistons 28 54 .341 29
13 Philadelphia 76ers 24 58 .293 33
14 Washington Bullets 21 61 .256 36


# Western Conference
Team W L PCT GB
1 z-San Antonio Spurs 62 20 .756 –
2 y-Phoenix Suns 59 23 .720 3
3 x-Utah Jazz 60 22 .732 2
4 x-Seattle SuperSonics 57 25 .695 5
5 x-Los Angeles Lakers 48 34 .585 14
6 x-Houston Rockets 47 35 .573 15
7 x-Portland Trail Blazers 44 38 .537 18
8 x-Denver Nuggets 41 41 .500 21
9 Sacramento Kings 39 43 .476 23
10 Dallas Mavericks 36 46 .439 26
11 Golden State Warriors 26 56 .317 36
12 Minnesota Timberwolves 21 61 .256 41
13 Los Angeles Clippers 17 65 .207 45



Notes

  • y, z – clinched division title
  • x – clinched playoff spot

[edit] Playoffs

Teams in bold advanced to the next round. The numbers to the left of each team indicate the team's seeding in its conference, and the numbers to the right indicate the number of games the team won in that round. The division champions are marked by an asterisk. Home court advantage does not necessarily belong to the higher-seeded team, but instead the team with the better regular season record; teams enjoying the home advantage are shown in italics.

Main article: 1995 NBA Playoffs
  First Round Conference Semifinals Conference Finals NBA Finals
                                     
1  San Antonio 3  
8  Denver 0  
  1  San Antonio 4  
 
  5  L.A. Lakers 2  
4  Seattle 1
5  L.A. Lakers 3  
  1  San Antonio 2  
Western Conference
  6  Houston 4  
3  Utah 2  
6  Houston 3  
  6  Houston 4
 
  2  Phoenix 3  
2  Phoenix 3
7  Portland 0  
  W6  Houston 4
  E1  Orlando 0
1  Orlando 3  
8  Boston 1  
  1  Orlando 4
 
  5  Chicago 2  
4  Charlotte 1
5  Chicago 3  
  1  Orlando 4
Eastern Conference
  2  Indiana 3  
3  New York 3  
6  Cleveland 1  
  3  New York 3
 
  2  Indiana 4  
2  Indiana 3
7  Atlanta 0  

[edit] Statistics leaders

Category Player Team Stat
Points per game Shaquille O'Neal Orlando Magic 29.3
Rebounds per game Dennis Rodman San Antonio Spurs 16.8
Assists per game John Stockton Utah Jazz 12.3
Steals per game Scottie Pippen Chicago Bulls 2.9
Blocks per game Dikembe Mutombo Denver Nuggets 3.9
FG% Chris Gatling Golden State Warriors 63.3
FT% Spud Webb Sacramento Kings 93.4
3FG% Steve Kerr Chicago Bulls 52.4

[edit] NBA awards

Note: All information on this page were obtained on the History section on NBA.com

[edit] References

  1. ^ "PRO BASKETBALL; N.B.A. Panel's 3-Point Plan". The New York Times. 1994-09-14. http://www.nytimes.com/1994/09/14/sports/pro-basketball-nba-panel-s-3-point-plan.html. Retrieved 2010-04-20. 
  2. ^ http://www.basketball-reference.com/leaders/fg3_season.html
  3. ^ Abrams, Jonathan (2009-10-18). "In Its 30th Year in N.B.A., 3-Pointer Is No Outsider". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/18/sports/basketball/18threes.html?_r=1. Retrieved 2010-04-20. 

[edit] See also
Also this year: 1994 Draft • 1995 Playoffs • 1995 Finals  • 1995 All-Star Game
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1994–95 NBA season by team
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Western
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