List of Houston Rockets seasons

The Rockets moved into the Toyota Center at the start of the 2003–2004 season.

The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston, Texas. They play in the Southwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The team was established in 1967, and played in San Diego, California for four years, before moving to Houston, Texas.

In the Rockets' debut season, their win-loss record was 15–67. After drafting Elvin Hayes first overall in the 1968 NBA Draft, they made their first appearance in the playoffs in 1969. After Hayes was traded, Moses Malone replaced him. Malone won two Most Valuable Player awards during his time in Houston, and led the Rockets to the 1977 Eastern Conference finals in his first year with the Rockets. He also led the Rockets to the NBA Finals in 1981, but they were defeated in six games by the Boston Celtics. Two years after advancing to the finals, the Rockets won a franchise-low 14 games.

In 1985, the Rockets drafted future Hall-of-Famer Hakeem Olajuwon, who led them to the 1986 Finals in his second year, in which they lost again to Boston. In the next seven seasons, they lost in the first round of the playoffs five times. They did not win their first championship until 1994, when Olajuwon led them to a franchise-best 58 wins, and the championship. The Rockets repeated the feat in 1995, but have not advanced to the finals since. They missed the playoffs from 1999 to 2003, and did not reach the playoffs until after they drafted Yao Ming in 2003. They did not advance past the first round of the playoffs for 13 years, until the 2008-09 NBA season. The Rockets won 53 games that season, advanced past the first round for the first time since 1997, defeated the Portland Trail Blazers, but eventually lost in the semifinals to the Los Angeles Lakers in seven hard games.

The Rockets have played 42 seasons, and advanced to the playoffs in 25 of those seasons. They have won four division titles, and have been conference champions four times. Their overall record is 1723 wins and 1669 losses.

Table key

AMVP	All-Star Game Most Valuable Player
COY	Coach of the Year
DPOY	Defensive Player of the Year
EOY	Executive of the Year
Finish	Final position in league or division standings
FMVP	Finals Most Valuable Player
GB	Games behind first-place team in division[a]
Losses	Number of regular-season losses
JWKC	J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship
MVP	Most Valuable Player
ROY	Rookie of the Year
Wins	Number of regular-season wins

Seasons

Note: Statistics are correct as of the 2008–09 NBA season.

NBA Champions (1968–present) ¤

Conference Champions (1971–present) ^

Division Champions (1971–present) †

Playoff Berth (1968–present) *

Season	Conference	Division	Finish[b]	Wins[c]	Losses[c]	Win%	GB	Playoffs	Awards
1967–68	—	Western	6th	15	67	.183	41	Did not reach the Playoffs	—
1968–69	—	Western	4th*	37	45	.461	18	Lost Western Division Semifinals to Atlanta Hawks, 4–2	—
1969–70	—	Western	7th	27	55	.329	21	Did not reach the Playoffs	—
1970–71	Western	Pacific[d]	3rd	40	42	.488	8	Did not reach the Playoffs	—
1971–72	Western	Pacific	4th	34	48	.415	35	Did not reach the Playoffs	—
1972–73	Eastern	Central	3rd	33	49	.402	19	Did not reach the Playoffs	—
1973–74	Eastern	Central	3rd	32	50	.390	15	Did not reach the Playoffs	—
1974–75	Eastern	Central	2nd	41	41	.500	19	Won Eastern Conference First Round vs. New York Knicks, 2–1 Lost Eastern Conference Semifinals to Boston Celtics, 4–1	—
1975–76	Eastern	Central	3rd	40	42	.488	9	Did not reach the Playoffs	—
1976–77	Eastern	Central†	1st†	49	33	.598	—	Won Eastern Conference Semifinals vs. Washington Bullets, 4–2 Lost Eastern Conference Finals to Philadelphia 76ers, 4–2	Tom Nissalke (COY) Ray Patterson (EOY)
1977–78	Eastern	Central	6th	28	54	.341	24	Did not reach the Playoffs	—
1978–79	Eastern	Central	2nd*	47	35	.573	1	Lost Eastern Conference First Round to Atlanta Hawks, 2–0	Calvin Murphy (JWKC) Moses Malone (MVP)
1979–80	Eastern	Central	2nd*	41	41	.500	9	Won Eastern Conference First Round vs. Atlanta Hawks, 2–1 Lost Eastern Conference Semifinals to Boston Celtics, 4–0	—
1980–81	Western^	Midwest	2nd*	40	42	.488	12	Won Western Conference First Round vs. Los Angeles Lakers, 2–1 Won Eastern Conference Semifinals vs. San Antonio Spurs, 4–3 Won Eastern Conference Finals vs. Kansas City Kings, 4–1 Lost NBA Finals to Boston Celtics, 4–2	—
1981–82	Western	Midwest	2nd*	46	36	.561	2	Lost Western Conference First Round to Seattle Supersonics, 2–1	Moses Malone (MVP)
1982–83	Western	Midwest	6th	14	68	.171	39	Did not reach the Playoffs	—
1983–84	Western	Midwest	6th	29	53	.354	16	Did not reach the Playoffs	Ralph Sampson (ROY)
1984–85	Western	Midwest	2nd*	48	34	.585	4	Lost Western Conference First Round to Utah Jazz, 3–2	Ralph Sampson (AMVP)
1985–86	Western^	Midwest†	1st†	51	31	.585	—	Won Western Conference First Round vs. Sacramento Kings, 3–0 Won Western Conference Semifinals vs. Denver Nuggets, 4–2 Won Western Conference Finals vs. Los Angeles Lakers, 4–1 Lost NBA Finals to Boston Celtics, 4–2	—
1986–87	Western	Midwest	3rd*	42	40	.512	13	Won Western Conference First Round vs. Portland Trail Blazers, 3–1 Lost Western Conference Semifinals to Seattle Supersonics, 4–2	—
1987–88	Western	Midwest	4th*	46	36	.561	8	Lost Western Conference First Round to Dallas Mavericks, 3–1	—
1988–89	Western	Midwest	2nd*	45	37	.549	6	Lost Western Conference First Round to Seattle Supersonics, 3–0	—
1989–90	Western	Midwest	5th*	41	41	.500	15	Lost Western Conference First Round to Los Angeles Lakers, 3–1	—
1990–91	Western	Midwest	3rd*	52	30	.634	3	Lost Western Conference First Round to Los Angeles Lakers, 3–0	Don Chaney (COY)
1991–92	Western	Midwest	3rd	42	40	.512	13	Did not reach the Playoffs	—
1992–93	Western	Midwest†	1st†	55	27	.671	—	Won Western Conference First Round vs. Los Angeles Clippers, 3–2 Lost Western Conference Semifinals to Seattle Supersonics, 4–3	Hakeem Olajuwon (DPOY and MVP)
1993–94 ¤	Western ^	Midwest †	1st †	58	24	.707	—	Won Western Conference First Round vs. Portland Trail Blazers, 3–1 Won Western Conference Semifinals vs. Phoenix Suns, 4–3 Won Western Conference Finals vs. Utah Jazz, 4–1 Won NBA Finals vs. New York Knicks, 4–3 ¤	Hakeem Olajuwon (DPOY and FMVP)
1994–95 ¤	Western ^	Midwest	3rd *	47	35	.573	—	Won Western Conference First Round vs. Utah Jazz, 3–2 Won Western Conference Semifinals vs. Phoenix Suns, 4–3 Won Western Conference Finals vs. San Antonio Spurs, 4–2 Won NBA Finals vs. Orlando Magic, 4–0 ¤	Hakeem Olajuwon (FMVP)
1995–96	Western	Midwest	3rd*	48	34	.585	11	Won Western Conference First Round vs. Los Angeles Lakers, 3–1 Lost Western Conference Semifinals to Seattle Supersonics, 4–0	—
1996–97	Western	Midwest	2nd*	57	25	.695	7	Won Western Conference First Round vs. Minnesota Timberwolves, 3–0 Won Western Conference Semifinals vs. Seattle Supersonics, 4–3 Lost Western Conference Finals to Utah Jazz, 4–2	—
1997–98	Western	Midwest	4th*	41	41	.500	21	Lost Western Conference First Round to Utah Jazz, 3–2	—
1998–99[e]	Western	Midwest	3rd*	31	19	.620	6	Lost Western Conference First Round to Los Angeles Lakers, 3–1	—
1999–00	Western	Midwest	6th	34	48	.415	21	Did not reach the Playoffs	Steve Francis[f] (ROY)
2000–01	Western	Midwest	5th	45	37	.549	13	Did not reach the Playoffs	—
2001–02	Western	Midwest	5th	28	54	.341	30	Did not reach the Playoffs	—
2002–03	Western	Midwest	5th	43	39	.524	17	Did not reach the Playoffs	—
2003–04	Western	Midwest	5th*	45	37	.549	13	Lost Western Conference First Round to Los Angeles Lakers, 4–1	—
2004–05	Western	Southwest	3rd*	51	31	.622	8	Lost Western Conference First Round to Dallas Mavericks, 4–3	—
2005–06	Western	Southwest	5th	34	48	.415	29	Did not reach the Playoffs	—
2006–07	Western	Southwest	3rd*	52	30	.634	15	Lost Western Conference First Round to Utah Jazz, 4–3	—
2007–08	Western	Southwest	3rd*	55	27	.671	1	Lost Western Conference First Round to Utah Jazz, 4–2	—
2008–09	Western	Southwest	2nd*	53	29	.646	1	Won Western Conference First Round vs Portland Trail Blazers, 4–2 Lost Western Conference Semifinals to Los Angeles Lakers, 4–3	Dikembe Mutombo (JWKC)
2009-10	Western	Southwest		0	0	.000

All-time records

Statistic	Wins	Losses	Win%
San Diego Rockets regular season record (1968–1971)	119	209	.363
Houston Rockets regular season record (1971–present)	1618	1466	.525
All-time regular season record (1968–present)	1737	1675	.509
San Diego Rockets post-season record (1969)	2	4	.333
Houston Rockets post-season record (1975–present)	107	111	.488
All-time post-season record (1969–present)	109	115	.487
All-time regular and post-season record	1846	1790	.508

Notes

• ^a $\mathrm {Games} \ \mathrm {behind} ={\frac {(\mathrm {TeamA's} \ \mathrm {wins} -\mathrm {TeamB's} \ \mathrm {wins} )+(\mathrm {TeamB's} \ \mathrm {losses} -\mathrm {TeamA's} \ \mathrm {losses} )}{\mathrm {2} }}$
• ^b The Finish column lists regular season results and excludes postseason play.
• ^c The Wins and Losses columns list regular season results and exclude any postseason play. Regular and postseason records are combined only below the table.
• ^d The Western Division was renamed to the Western Conference and split into the Midwest and Pacific divisions.
• ^e Due to a lockout, the season did not start until February 5, 1999, and all 29 teams played a shortened 50-game regular season schedule.
• ^f Francis shared Rookie of the Year honors with Elton Brand of the Chicago Bulls.

References

General

• "Houston Rockets". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 2008-08-29.
• "Team Index". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 2008-08-29.
• "Playoff Index". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 2008-08-29.
• "Awards and Honors Index". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 2008-09-07.

Specific