1994 NBA Finals
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| Dates: | June 8–22 | |||||||||
| MVP: | Hakeem Olajuwon (Houston Rockets) |
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| Television: | NBC (U.S.) | |||||||||
| Announcers: | Marv Albert and Matt Guokas | |||||||||
| Referees: | ||||||||||
| Game 1: Joe Crawford, Jack Madden, Dick Bavetta | ||||||||||
| Game 2: Darell Garretson, Ed T. Rush, Hue Hollins | ||||||||||
| Game 3: Jake O'Donnell, Jess Kersey, Bill Oakes | ||||||||||
| Game 4: Hugh Evans, Joe Crawford, Mike Mathis | ||||||||||
| Game 5: Darell Garretson, Ed T. Rush, Dick Bavetta | ||||||||||
| Game 6: Jake O'Donnell, Jess Kersey, Jack Madden | ||||||||||
| Game 7: Hugh Evans, Joe Crawford, Ed T. Rush | ||||||||||
| Hall of Famers: | Patrick Ewing (2008) Hakeem Olajuwon (2008) Coaches: Pat Riley (2008) |
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| Eastern Finals: | Knicks defeat Pacers, 4-3 | |||||||||
| Western Finals: | Rockets defeat Jazz, 4-1 | |||||||||
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The 1994 NBA Finals was the championship round of the 1993–94 National Basketball Association season, featuring the Western Conference's Houston Rockets defeating the Eastern Conference's New York Knicks.
This matchup was Hakeem Olajuwon's second NBA Finals series appearance, his other being in 1986, where Larry Bird and the Boston Celtics defeated the Houston Rockets four games to two. The series was Patrick Ewing's first NBA Finals appearance. The Rockets came in with strong determination to win not only the franchise's first NBA championship, but the city's first championship in a league that still existed, all while the Knicks were looking to add a third NBA championship trophy, as the Knicks' last trophy came from the 1973 NBA Finals. The Knicks also hoped to impress their new owners Viacom, who had just bought Paramount Communications (formerly Gulf+Western), their longtime owners (after the series however, Viacom sold the Knicks and the rest of the Madison Square Garden properties).
The series was hailed as a meeting of the two great centers who had previously played for a championship in college. In 1984 while Olajuwon was with the University of Houston and Ewing was with Georgetown University, Georgetown had beaten Houston 84-75 in the 1984 NCAA Championship game. In this series, however, Olajuwon is generally considered to have definitively outplayed Ewing,[1][2][3] outscoring him in every game of the series and posting numbers of 26.9 ppg on 50.0% shooting compared to Ewing's 18.9 ppg on 36.3% shooting.[4] However, Ewing set an NBA finals record in the series with a total of 30 blocks, and he tied the single-game record of 8 blocks in Game 5.[5] Dwight Howard would surpass this record with 9 blocked shots in Game 4 of the 2009 Finals while with the Orlando Magic, with whom Ewing is now assistant coach. Also worth noting, Ewing outrebounded Hakeem 87 to 64 in the series.
During the series, the Houston Rockets played seven low-scoring, defensive games against the New York Knicks. After splitting the first two games in Houston, the Knicks won two out of three games at Madison Square Garden, where it was also hosted the Rangers first Stanley Cup celebration in 54 years during the series.
In Game 6, however, Rockets center Hakeem Olajuwon blocked a last-second attempt at a game-winner by John Starks, giving the Rockets an 86-84 victory and forcing a Game 7, which made Knicks Coach Pat Riley the first (and to this date, the only) coach in a Game 7 NBA Finals on two different teams, having been with the Los Angeles Lakers in 1984 and 1988. In addition, the Knicks set a record for most playoff games played in one season, with 25. The Detroit Pistons tied this record in 2005.[6] The Boston Celtics, with whom Doc Rivers is now the head coach, would surpass it during their championship season of 2008 when they played 26.[6]
The Rockets beat the Knicks in Game 7, 90-84, enabling the city of Houston to not only celebrate its first NBA and fifth professional sports championship (first in an existing league), but also deny New York from having both NBA and NHL championships in the same year. It is also the first time a Houston team won a championship in a league that still exists. For his efforts Olajuwon was named NBA Finals Most Valuable Player. For the Knicks, Riley had the unfortunate distinction of having become the first (and to this date, the only) coach to lose a Game 7 NBA Finals on two different teams, having lost to the Celtics in 1984. It also denied him the distinciton of being the first coach to win a Game 7 NBA Finals with two different teams, having defeated the Detroit Pistons in 1988.
NBC Sports used Ahmad Rashād (Knicks sideline) and Hannah Storm (Rockets sideline).
Hal Douglas narrated the season-ending documentary Clutch City for NBA Entertainment.
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[edit] 1994 NBA Finals roster
[edit] 1994 Houston Rockets
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[edit] 1994 New York Knicks
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[edit] Background
Hakeem Olajuwon, then named Akeem, was drafted first overall by the Houston Rockets in the 1984 NBA Draft. Olajuwon quickly rose into an NBA All-Star, and in his second season, he led the Rockets to the 1986 NBA Finals, where they would lose in six games to the Boston Celtics. However the Rockets would gradually dismantle that team, and by 1991, only Olajuwon remained from that 1986 squad. Midway to the 1991-92 season Rudy Tomjanovich took over as head coach and almost led the team to the playoffs. By 1993 the Rockets were on the rise, with Olajuwon transforming into an all-around player while remaining a defensive presence in the paint. The Rockets would come within a game of the conference finals that year, losing to the Seattle SuperSonics in seven games. The Rockets then started 15-0 the next season en route to a 58-24 record, finishing behind Seattle in the West. In the playoffs they defeated the Portland Trail Blazers 3-1, the Phoenix Suns 4-3 (after losing the first two games at home), and the Utah Jazz 4-1 to advance to the finals.
Patrick Ewing was drafted No. 1 by the New York Knicks in the 1985 NBA Draft. However his rise to stardom was stalled by a pair of losing seasons and several leg injuries, despite winning Rookie of the Year in 1986. Nevertheless Ewing continued to excel, and by 1989 the Knicks were mentioned as playoff contenders. It wasn't until they hired Pat Riley as head coach in 1991 that the Knicks started to rise among the Eastern Conference elite. Riley transformed the team into a tough, defensive-minded group, anchored by Ewing, Charles Oakley, Anthony Mason, John Starks and Charles Smith. In the 1993 Eastern Conference Finals the Knicks led 2-0 on the defending champion Chicago Bulls, but then lost the next four, highlighted by a flurry of blocks by the Bulls defense on Smith in Game 5. With Michael Jordan retired the next season, the Knicks took advantage by winning 57 games, then defeated the New Jersey Nets in the first round 3-1. Still, the Knicks had to overcome the Jordan-less Bulls in seven games, before dispatching the hot-shooting Reggie Miller and the Indiana Pacers in seven games of the Eastern Conference Finals.
[edit] How They Got Here
| Houston Rockets (Western Conference Champion) | New York Knicks (Eastern Conference Champion) | ||
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| 58–24 (.707) 1st Midwest, 2nd West, 2nd overall |
Regular season | 57–25 (.695) 1st Atlantic, 2nd East, 4th overall |
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| Defeated the (7) Portland Trail Blazers, 3–1 | First Round | Defeated the (7) New Jersey Nets, 3–1 | |
| Defeated the (3) Phoenix Suns, 4–3 | Conference Semifinals | Defeated the (3) Chicago Bulls, 4–3 | |
| Defeated the (4) Utah Jazz, 4–1 | Conference Finals | Defeated the (5) Indiana Pacers, 4–3 | |
[edit] Regular season series
The Houston Rockets won both games in the regular season series:
| December 2, 1993 | Houston Rockets 94, New York Knicks 85 | Madison Square Garden, New York City | ||||
| February 24, 1994 | New York Knicks 73, Houston Rockets 93 | The Summit, Houston, Texas | ||||
[edit] Series summary
| Game | Date | Home Team | Result | Road Team | TV Time |
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| Game 1 | Wednesday, June 8 | Houston Rockets | 85-78 (1-0) | New York Knicks | 9:00et |
| Game 2 | Friday, June 10 | Houston Rockets | 83-91 (1-1) | New York Knicks | 9:00et |
| Game 3 | Sunday, June 12 | New York Knicks | 89-93 (1-2) | Houston Rockets | 7:00et |
| Game 4 | Wednesday, June 15 | New York Knicks | 91-82 (2-2) | Houston Rockets | 9:00et |
| Game 5 | Friday, June 17 | New York Knicks | 91-84 (3-2) | Houston Rockets | 9:00et |
| Game 6 | Sunday, June 19 | Houston Rockets | 86-84 (3-3) | New York Knicks | 7:00et |
| Game 7 | Wednesday, June 22 | Houston Rockets | 90-84 (4-3) | New York Knicks | 9:00et |
- This was the second NBA Finals that went to a Game 7 since the Finals went to the 2-3-2 format in 1985.
[edit] Game 1
| June 8 9:00et |
New York Knicks 78, Houston Rockets 85 | The Summit, Houston, Texas Attendance: 16,611 Referees:
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NBC | ||||
| Scoring by quarter: 24–26, 22–28, 17–18, 15–13 | |||||||
| Pts: Patrick Ewing 23 Rebs: Charles Oakley 14 Asts: Derek Harper 5 |
Pts: Hakeem Olajuwon 28 Rebs: Otis Thorpe 16 Asts: Kenny Smith 5 |
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| Houston leads the series, 1–0 | |||||||
[edit] Game 2
| June 10 9:00et |
New York Knicks 91, Houston Rockets 83 | The Summit, Houston, Texas Attendance: 16,611 Referees:
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NBC | ||||
| Scoring by quarter: 24–20, 18–22, 30–23, 19–18 | |||||||
| Pts: John Starks 19 Rebs: Patrick Ewing 13 Asts: John Starks 9 |
Pts: Hakeem Olajuwon 25 Rebs: Otis Thorpe 12 Asts: Kenny Smith 6 |
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| Series tied, 1–1 | |||||||
[edit] Game 3
| June 12 7:30et |
Houston Rockets 93, New York Knicks 89 | Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York Attendance: 19,763 Referees:
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NBC | ||||
| Scoring by quarter: 26–18, 19–20, 24–25, 24–26 | |||||||
| Pts: Hakeem Olajuwon 21 Rebs: Hakeem Olajuwon 11 Asts: Hakeem Olajuwon 7 |
Pts: Derek Harper 21 Rebs: Patrick Ewing 13 Asts: John Starks 9 |
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| Houston leads series, 2–1 | |||||||
[edit] Game 4
| June 15 9:00et |
Houston Rockets 82, New York Knicks 91 | Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York Attendance: 19,763 Referees:
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NBC | ||||
| Scoring by quarter: 14–19, 19–21, 28–20, 21–31 | |||||||
| Pts: Hakeem Olajuwon 32 Rebs: Otis Thorpe 10 Asts: Sam Cassell 5 |
Pts: Derek Harper 21 Rebs: Charles Oakley 20 Asts: Derek Harper 5 |
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| Series tied, 2–2 | |||||||
[edit] Game 5
| June 17 9:00et |
Houston Rockets 84, New York Knicks 91 | Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York Attendance: 19,763 Referees:
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NBC | ||||
| Scoring by quarter: 21–22, 16–26, 24–13, 23–30 | |||||||
| Pts: Hakeem Olajuwon 27 Rebs: Otis Thorpe 13 Asts: Robert Horry 6 |
Pts: Patrick Ewing 25 Rebs: Patrick Ewing 12 Asts: Derek Harper 7 |
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| New York Leads series, 3–2 | |||||||
[edit] Game 6
| June 19 7:30et |
New York Knicks 84, Houston Rockets 86 | The Summit, Houston, Texas Attendance: 16,611 Referees:
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NBC | ||||
| Scoring by quarter: 21–21, 15–25, 26–19, 22–21 | |||||||
| Pts: John Starks 27 Rebs: Patrick Ewing 15 Asts: Derek Harper 10 |
Pts: Hakeem Olajuwon 30 Rebs: Olajuwon, Thorpe 10 each Asts: Otis Thorpe 6 |
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| Series tied, 3–3 | |||||||
[edit] Game 7
| June 22 9:00et |
New York Knicks 84, Houston Rockets 90 | The Summit, Houston, Texas Attendance: 16,611 Referees:
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NBC | ||||
| Scoring by quarter: 21–22, 22–23, 17–18, 24–27 | |||||||
| Pts: Derek Harper 23 Rebs: Charles Oakley 14 Asts: Derek Harper 5 |
Pts: Hakeem Olajuwon 25 Rebs: Hakeem Olajuwon 10 Asts: Hakeem Olajuwon 7 |
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| Houston wins the series, 4–3 | |||||||
[edit] Olajuwon vs. Ewing
Although most fans in New York, and some members of the national media, blamed John Starks' poor performance, who shot 2-for-18 from the field in Game 7, as a contributing factor in the Knicks' loss in the series, another important factor in the Rockets series win was Olajuwon's performance. Olajuwon outscored Ewing in every game of the series, while Ewing outrebounded him (12.4 rpg to 9.1 rpg) and set a then NBA Finals record with a total of 30 blocks:[4]
| 1994 NBA Finals | Gm 1 | Gm 2 | Gm 3 | Gm 4 | Gm 5 | Gm 6 | Gm 7 | Totals |
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| Hakeem Olajuwon | 28 | 25 | 21 | 32 | 27 | 30 | 25 | 26.9 ppg 50.0% fg 9.1 rpg 3.6 apg 3.9 bpg |
| Patrick Ewing | 23 | 16 | 18 | 15 | 25 | 19 | 17 | 18.9 ppg 36.4% fg 12.4 rpg 1.7 apg 4.3 bpg |
[edit] New York Rangers Win Stanley Cup
Game 4 took place at Madison Square Garden with its corridors smelling of beer and champagne. Less than 24 hours before, the New York Rangers won Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals, 3–2 over Vancouver Canucks.
Rangers Captain Mark Messier attended the game,[7][8] bringing the Stanley Cup in a bid to inspire the Knicks, first to their locker room before the game, and again out onto center court at halftime, much to the delight of the fans.[9]
The Knicks went on to win Game 4, and John Starks, Patrick Ewing, and Pat Riley all said that the Rangers' win was a motivating factor and that everyone on the team watched the game.[10] Several Knicks, including Forward Anthony Mason were at the game.[11] During NBC's broadcast of Game 4, Marv Albert, who himself handled the radio call of the Rangers' win, and Matt Guokas mentioned the Rangers' win and that the Knicks were happy that it happened at home and the same arena they play in, saying that the Garden was "the scene of one of the glorious moments in the history of New York sports."[7]
NBA Commissioner David Stern congratulated the Rangers on their win.[12] Then-Chicago Bulls Coach Phil Jackson (himself a former Knick) said that the Knicks championship run and the Rangers' win would become great parts of a great chapter in New York City sports history[13] because Rangers Coach Mike Keenan had been part of a concurrent finals series in hockey and basketball taking place in the same city, having seen it Chicago two years when he coached the Blackhawks to the Stanley Cup Finals as Jackson coached the Bulls, led by Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen to their second straight NBA championship.[13] However, Riley experienced this for the first time, as the Los Angeles Kings did not reach their finals during any of the 7 years he coached the Lakers to the finals. (The Kings' only Finals' appearance was in 1993.)
Carroll Dawson, an assistant coach of the Rockets, said on the 10th anniversary of the Rockets win that though the Rangers win "had been overlooked through the years,"[14] it was a motivational assist for the Rockets, as Houston went from "Choke City" to "Clutch City." He recounted: "Our players got to see firsthand how a city could just go crazy. They watched the parade. It was like an assist from New York. I think it helped our guys want it more."[14]
Game 5 took place on the same day of the ticker-tape parade in the Canyon of Heroes in Lower Manhattan honoring the new Stanley Cup champions.[11] Players and representatives of both the Knicks and the Rockets were among 1.5 million who attended it, unless they rooted for the Canucks, as they would have wanted to see a rally in the atrium in Grouse Mountain, overlooking downtown Vancouver.[14]
The Knicks losing Game 7 meant Keenan saw New York get the same verdict he saw in Chicago two years before, as his Blackhawks got swept by the defending champions, the Pittsburgh Penguins, in their finals in 1992. Nevertheless, both teams got their motivation from the way things to the Rangers' win ended: "The New York Rangers have done it here on a hot June night in New York! The Rangers are Stanley Cup Champions!"[11][14]
[edit] Telecast interrupted by O.J. Simpson car chase
During Game 5, most NBC affiliates split the coverage of the game between NFL Hall of Famer O.J. Simpson's slow speed freeway chase with the LAPD. At the time, Simpson had been an NFL analyst on NBC.
The coverage was presented on a split screen, with the game taking up the smaller portion of the television screen on the left, while live coverage of the chase was shown in a bigger screen on the right. The audio came from the chase as narrated by NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw.[15]
KNBC in Los Angeles, serving the media market where the police were tracking Simpson, left game coverage completely for the chase and did not even put up a split screen until the end of the game, which was still close at the time. By this point, Simpson had returned to his mansion in Brentwood and had surrendered to police.
A complete re-broadcast of Game 5, with natural crowd audio substituting for the parts for which NBC did not provide audio, is part of the DVD release of this series from Warner Home Video.
[edit] Aftermath
The Rockets would repeat as NBA champions in 1995, but their season overall was a rocky one. Plagued by the lack of chemistry the Rockets only managed to finish 6th in the West and won only 47 games, despite the mid-season addition of Clyde Drexler. Yet the Rockets' ability to overcome adversity was exemplified in the postseason that followed, beating 50-win squads Utah, Phoenix, San Antonio and Orlando to win the NBA championship, the lowest seed to win it all.
Also in 1995, the Knicks enjoyed another strong season, with 55 wins. However, they were eliminated by the Indiana Pacers in seven games of the second round, as Pacers guard Reggie Miller's 'Knick Killer' legacy continued, scoring eight points in 32 seconds late in Game 1's victory. After the season Pat Riley bolted for the Miami Heat. The Knicks would make the finals again in 1999, but fell to the Spurs in five games.
The championship represents Houston's first since the Houston Oilers won the AFL title in 1961.
[edit] See also
- 1993–94 New York Knicks season
- 1993–94 Houston Rockets season
- 1994 NBA Playoffs
- 1994 Stanley Cup Finals
[edit] References
- ^ Araton, Harvey (June 23, 1994). "ON PRO BASKETBALL: N.B.A. FINALS; Long-Sought Title That Ewing Needed Eludes Him Again". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/1994/06/23/sports/pro-basketball-nba-finals-long-sought-title-that-ewing-needed-eludes-him-again.html?pagewanted=print. Retrieved April 1, 2008. "But he (Ewing) was just not as good as Hakeem Olajuwon, never has been."
- ^ Kalb, Elliot (2003). Who's Better, Who's Best in Basketball?: Mr. Stats Sets the Record Straight on the Top 50 NBA Players of All Time. McGraw-Hill Professional. p. 163. ISBN 0-07-141788-5. "Olajuwon clearly outplayed Ewing"
- ^ "Daily Dime: Special Edition The game's greatest giants ever". espn.com. March 6, 2007. http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/dailydime?page=dailydime-GreatestCenters. Retrieved April 12, 2007. "He (Olajuwon) outplayed Ewing, Robinson and O'Neal to lead Houston to back-to-back titles..."
- ^ a b "History of the NBA Finals: Hakeem Olajuwon: The NBA’s Best In The Mid ’90s". hollywoodsportsbook.com. http://www.hollywoodsportsbook.com/nbafinals/mvp_olajuwon94.cfm. Retrieved February 16, 2007.
- ^ "Patrick Ewing Bio". NBA.com. http://www.nba.com/playerfile/patrick_ewing/printable_player_files.html. Retrieved April 19, 2007.
- ^ a b Beck, Howard (June 17, 2008). "Celtics Remain Mindful Of a Missed Opportunity". The New York Times: p. D2. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9900E5D6113AF934A25755C0A96E9C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=print.
- ^ a b NBA on NBC: Game 4 of the 1994 NBA Finals (television). NBC. 1994-06-15.
- ^ 1994 NBA Finals: GM 4, Rockets at Knicks part 3 on YouTube
- ^ Zipay, Steve (June 14, 2009). "'94, a vintage year for Rangers, Knicks; Rangers ended 54-year Stanley Cup drought". Newsday. p. A78. http://www.newsday.com/sports/basketball/for-rangers-no-better-feeling-than-long-awaited-cup-1.1244460?print=true. Retrieved 2009-09-07.
- ^ Boeck, Greg (June 17, 1994). "Knicks Motivated by Rangers' Title". USA Today: p. 09C.
- ^ a b c Hahn, Alan (June 14, 2009). "After huge effort, Knicks fall short". Newsday. p. A79. http://www.newsday.com/sports/basketball/knicks-had-marvelous-run-to-finals-in-1994-1.1245121?print=true. Retrieved 2009-09-07.
- ^ "'94 NBA FINALS/Summary". The Houston Chronicle: p. 9. 1994-06-16. "NBA commissioner David Stern took time Wednesday night to congratulate the New York Rangers on winning the NHL's Stanley Cup, but said he's not concerned about a trend nationwide and in New York in particular that seems to place more emphasis on the NHL than the NBA."
- ^ a b Spring of '94 (television). MSG Network. 2007-05-21.
- ^ a b c d Blinebury, Fran (2004-06-13). "BELIEVE IT: 10 YEARS LATER; 'The Times of Our Lives'". The Houston Chronicle: p. 1.
- ^ Brett Morgen, Director (June 16, 2010). 30 for 30: June 17, 1994 (television). ESPN.
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