1996–97 Houston Rockets season

The 1996–97 NBA season was the Rockets' 30th season in the National Basketball Association, and 26th season in Houston.[1] During the offseason, the Rockets acquired All-Star forward Charles Barkley from the Phoenix Suns,[2] and signed free agents Kevin Willis and Brent Price. The Rockets blasted off to a 21–2 start, but later on struggled posting a six-game losing streak between January and February. Barkley averaged 19.2 points per game, but appeared in just 53 games due to ankle and hip injuries. At midseason, the Rockets signed free agents Eddie Johnson and Sedale Threatt as they finished second in the Midwest Division with a 57–25 record. Barkley, Hakeem Olajuwon, Clyde Drexler and head coach Rudy Tomjanovich represented the Western Conference during the 1997 NBA All-Star Game. However, Barkley and Drexler did not play due to injuries.

1996–97 Houston Rockets season
Head coachRudy Tomjanovich
ArenaThe Summit
Results
Record57–25 (.695)
PlaceDivision: 2nd (Midwest)
Conference: 3rd (Western)
Playoff finishWest Conference Finals
(Lost to Jazz 2–4)
Stats @ Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
TelevisionKTXH
Fox Sports Southwest
RadioKTRH

In the first round of the playoffs, the Rockets swept the Minnesota Timberwolves in three straight games. In the semifinals, they jumped out to a 3–1 series lead over the Seattle SuperSonics. However, the Sonics would win the next two games to even the series at three games a piece. The Rockets would win Game 7 and advanced to the Western Conference Finals, only to lose in six games to the Utah Jazz.[3] Following the season, Threatt retired and Sam Mack was traded to the Vancouver Grizzlies.

After the departures of Barkley, Olajuwon and Drexler, the Rockets did not reach the Conference Finals again until 2015, where they were defeated by the Golden State Warriors in five games.

Offseason

During the 1996 offseason, Charles Barkley was traded from the Phoenix Suns in exchange for Sam Cassell, Robert Horry, Mark Bryant, and Chucky Brown. Barkley chose Houston specifically because he hoped to win an NBA Championship with the team.

Draft picks
Round Pick Player Position Nationality College
2 30 Othella Harrington PF/C  United States Georgetown
2 42 Randy Livingston SG/PG  United States LSU
2 50 Terrell Bell C  United States Georgia

Roster
Roster listing
Houston Rockets roster
PlayersCoaches
Pos.No.NameHeightWeightDOB (YYYY-MM-DD)From
PG 20 Price, Brent  6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 165 lb (75 kg) Oklahoma
PG 2 Threatt, Sedale 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 175 lb (79 kg) West Virginia Tech
PG 15 Davis, Emanual  6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Delaware State
PG 3 Livingston, Randy 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 209 lb (95 kg) LSU
PG 12 Maloney, Matt 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 192 lb (87 kg) Pennsylvania
SG 22 Drexler, Clyde 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Houston
SG 17 Elie, Mario 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 210 lb (95 kg) American International
SF 5 Mack, Sam  6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Houston
PF 32 Harrington, Othella 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 235 lb (107 kg) Georgetown
PF 4 Barkley, Charles 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 252 lb (114 kg) Auburn
PF 50 Bullard, Matt 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Iowa
SF 8 Johnson, Eddie 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Illinois
PF 27 Jones, Charles 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Albany State
C 34 Olajuwon, Hakeem 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 255 lb (116 kg) Houston
PF 42 Willis, Kevin 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Michigan State
Head coach
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured

Roster

Depth chart
Pos. Starting 5 Bench 1 Bench 2
C Hakeem Olajuwon Kevin Willis Charles Jones
PF Charles Barkley Othella Harrington Matt Bullard
SF Mario Elie Eddie Johnson Sam Mack
SG Clyde Drexler Sedale Threatt Emanual Davis
PG Matt Maloney Randy Livingston Brent Price

Regular season

In his first game with the Houston Rockets, Charles Barkley would get thirty three rebounds, a career high.[4]

Season standings
Midwest Division W L PCT GB Home Road Div
y-Utah Jazz 6418.780–38–326–1519–5
x-Houston Rockets 5725.695730–1127–1419–5
x-Minnesota Timberwolves 4042.4882425–1615–2616–8
Dallas Mavericks 2458.2934014–2710–319–15
Denver Nuggets 2161.2564312–299–327–17
San Antonio Spurs 2062.2444412–298–338–16
Vancouver Grizzlies 1468.171508–336–356–18
1996–97 NBA West standings
# Western Conference
Team W L PCT GB
1 c-Utah Jazz6418.780–
2 y-Seattle SuperSonics5725.6957
3 x-Houston Rockets5725.6957
4 x-Los Angeles Lakers5626.6838
5 x-Portland Trail Blazers4933.59815
6 x-Minnesota Timberwolves4042.48824
7 x-Phoenix Suns4042.48824
8 x-Los Angeles Clippers3646.43928
9 Sacramento Kings3448.41530
10 Golden State Warriors3052.36634
11 Dallas Mavericks2458.29340
12 Denver Nuggets2161.25643
13 San Antonio Spurs2062.24444
14 Vancouver Grizzlies1468.17150
c – clinched conference title
y – clinched division title
x – clinched playoff spot

Record vs. opponents
1996-97 NBA Records
Team ATL BOS CHA CHI CLE DAL DEN DET GSW HOU IND LAC LAL MIA MIL MIN NJN NYK ORL PHI PHO POR SAC SAS SEA TOR UTA VAN WAS
Atlanta —3–11–31–33–12–01–11–32–01–13–12–01–11–24–02–03–11–33–14–01–12–02–02–01–14–01–12–02–1
Boston 1–3—0–40–41–21–11–10–41–10–21–20–21–10–41–30–20–40–40–41–31–11–10–21–10–23–10–20–20–4
Charlotte 3–14–0—0–43–11–12–02–22–02–02–21–11–11–22–22–04–03–11–24–01–10–22–02–02–02–20–22–03–1
Chicago 3–14–04–0—3–12–02–03–12–01–14–02–01–12–24–02–03–12–23–04–02–02–02–02–02–03–11–12–02–1
Cleveland 1–32–11–31–3—2–01–12–21–10–23–12–01–10–42–22–04–01–32–23–01–11–12–00–20–23–11–12–01–3
Dallas 0–21–11–10–20–2—3–10–20–40–41–12–20–40–20–21–31–11–11–12–01–31–32–21–31–30–21–33–10–2
Denver 1–11–10–20–21–11–3—0–21–31–30–21–30–40–21–10–41–10–20–21–12–20–42–22–20–41–10–43–11–1
Detroit 3–14–02–21–32–22–02–0—2–01–13–12–01–10–43–12–04–01–22–22–10–21–11–12–01–13–11–12–04–0
Golden State 0–21–10–20–21–14–03–10–2—0–41–11–30–40–21–11–32–00–21–12–00–42–21–34–00–42–00–43–10–2
Houston 1–12–00–21–12–04–03–11–14–0—1–13–13–10–21–14–02–01–10–22–02–22–24–03–13–11–12–23–12–0
Indiana 1–32–12–20–41–31–12–01–31–11–1—2–01–11–32–22–02–21–31–33–01–11–11–11–11–14–00–22–01–3
L.A. Clippers 0–22–01–10–20–22–23–10–23–11–30–2—2–20–22–01–31–10–21–11–12–20–42–24–01–32–01–34–00–2
L.A. Lakers 1–11–11–11–11–14–04–01–14–01–31–12–2—1–12–03–12–01–11–12–04–01–34–02–23–11–11–34–02–0
Miami 2–14–02–12–24–02–02–04–02–02–03–12–01–1—4–01–13–11–32–23–12–01–12–02–00–23–10–22–03–1
Milwaukee 0–43–12–20–42–22–01–11–31–11–12–20–20–20–4—0–22–11–22–23–11–10–20–21–11–13–11–12–01–3
Minnesota 0–22–00–20–20–23–14–00–23–10–40–23–11–31–12–0—2–01–11–11–13–12–20–44–00–41–11–34–01–1
New Jersey 1–34–00–41–30–41–11–10–40–20–22–21–10–21–31–20–2—2–21–32–21–10–21–12–01–10–30–22–01–3
New York 3–14–01–32–23–11–12–02–12–01–13–12–01–13–12–11–12–2—3–13–21–11–12–02–00–23–01–12–04–0
Orlando 1–34–02–10–32–21–12–02–21–12–03–11–11–12–22–21–13–11–3—2–21–12–01–11–11–14–00–21–11–3
Philadelphia 0–43–10–40–40–30–21–11–20–20–20–31–10–21–31–31–12–22–32–2—1–11–10–21–10–21–30–22–01–3
Phoenix 1–11–11–10–21–13–12–22–04–02–21–12–20–40–21–11–31–11–11–11–1—1–34–03–12–20–21–32–21–1
Portland 0–21–12–00–21–13–14–01–12–22–21–14–03–11–12–02–22–01–10–21–13–1—2–24–01–30–22–24–00–2
Sacramento 0–22–00–20–20–22–22–21–13–10–41–12–20–40–22–04–01–10–21–12–00–42–2—3–11–31–10–44–00–2
San Antonio 0–21–10–20–22–03–12–20–20–41–31–10–42–20–21–10–40–20–21–11–11–30–41–3—0–41–11–31–30–2
Seattle 1–12–00–20–22–03–14–01–14–01–31–13–11–32–01–14–01–12–01–12–02–23–13–14–0—2–01–34–02–0
Toronto 0–41–32–21–31–32–01–11–30–21–10–40–21–11–31–31–13–00–30–43–12–02–01–11–10–2—1–11–12–2
Utah 1–12–02–01–11–13–14–01–14–02–22–03–13–12–01–13–12–01–12–02–03–12–24–03–13–11–1—4–02–0
Vancouver 0–22–00–20–20–21–31–30–21–31–30–20–40–40–20–20–40–20–21–10–22–20–40–43–10–41–10–4—1–1
Washington 1–24–01–31–23–12–01–10–42–00–23–12–00–21–33–11–13–10–43–13–11–12–02–02–00–22–20–21–1—

Game log
GameDateOpponentResultTeam pointsOpponent scoreRecordStreakOT
1November 1vs SacramentoWin96851-0Won 1
2November 2at PhoenixWin110952-0Won 2
3November 4at UtahWin75723-0Won 3
4November 5at SacramentoWin102804-0Won 4
5November 7at DenverWin1101085-0Won 5OT
6November 9vs UtahWin91856-0Won 6
7November 12vs LA LakersLoss1151266-1Lost 12OT
8November 14vs IndianaWin90887-1Won 1
9November 16vs Golden StateWin1151038-1Won 2
10November 19vs MinnesotaWin122939-1Won 3
11November 21vs PhoenixWin11510510-1Won 4
12November 23at Golden StateWin12011511-1Won 5OT
13November 24at LA LakersWin908512-1Won 6
14November 26vs PortlandWin10210113-1Won 7OT
15November 29at BostonWin1209414-1Won 8
16November 30at WashingtonWin1039915-1Won 9
17December 2at TorontoLoss8910015-2Lost 1
18December 4vs BostonWin948916-2Won 1
19December 7vs PhiladelphiaWin12310817-2Won 2
20December 10at MinnesotaWin969418-2Won 3
21December 12vs DetroitWin1159619-2Won 4
22December 14at SeattleWin10910020-2Won 5
23December 15at PortlandWin998921-2Won 6
24December 17at VancouverLoss929321-3Lost 1
25December 19vs San AntonioLoss10111521-4Lost 2
26December 21vs MiamiLoss668621-5Lost 3
27December 23vs MilwaukeeLoss768121-6Lost 4
28December 26at MilwaukeeWin1019022-6Won 1
29December 28vs Golden StateWin1049523-6Won 2
30December 30vs SeattleWin999124-6Won 3
31January 2vs PortlandLoss9611224-7Lost 1
32January 4vs LA ClippersLoss919524-8Lost 2
33January 7at MinnesotaWin1049525-8Won 1
34January 8at ClevelandWin817826-8Won 2
35January 10at PhiladelphiaWin1209927-8Won 3
36January 11at ChicagoLoss8611027-9Lost 1
37January 14vs New YorkWin1068628-9Won 1
38January 16vs SacramentoWin898029-9Won 2
39January 17at DallasWin887830-9Won 3
40January 19vs ChicagoWin1028631-9Won 4
41January 21at CharlotteLoss10811431-10Lost 1
42January 23vs New JerseyWin11110432-10Won 1
43January 25vs UtahLoss10010532-11Lost 1OT
44January 30vs DenverLoss10911332-12Lost 2
45January 31at IndianaLoss7410032-13Lost 3
46February 2at OrlandoLoss9010332-14Lost 4
47February 4at New YorkLoss959932-15Lost 5
48February 6at DetroitLoss879632-16Lost 6
49February 11vs VancouverWin1069733-16Won 1
50February 14at SeattleLoss8510533-17Lost 1
51February 15at PortlandLoss10510933-18Lost 2
52February 17vs AtlantaWin1279834-18Won 1
53February 20vs TorontoWin1079735-18Won 2
54February 21at AtlantaLoss747635-19Lost 1
55February 23vs San AntonioWin958536-19Won 1
56February 25vs LA LakersWin1009637-19Won 2
57February 27vs CharlotteLoss9510637-20Lost 1
58March 1vs DallasWin898038-20Won 1
59March 4at LA ClippersWin11310939-20Won 2
60March 5at Golden StateWin908540-20Won 3
61March 7at LA LakersWin1119041-20Won 4
62March 9at DallasWin888342-20Won 5
63March 11at San AntonioWin1037943-20Won 6
64March 12vs OrlandoLoss959643-21Lost 1
65March 16at MiamiLoss8010143-22Lost 2
66March 18at New JerseyWin978944-22Won 1
67March 20vs WashingtonWin969045-22Won 2
68March 22vs PhoenixLoss9910445-23Lost 1
69March 25vs MinnesotaWin11210346-23Won 1
70March 27vs ClevelandWin1078947-23Won 2
71March 29vs DenverWin12010548-23Won 3
72April 1at DenverWin1169949-23Won 4
73April 2at PhoenixLoss9610949-24Lost 1
74April 4at SacramentoWin1089450-24Won 1
75April 6at VancouverWin948551-24Won 2
76April 8at LA ClippersWin12711752-24Won 3
77April 10vs VancouverWin1029453-24Won 4
78April 11at UtahLoss8310453-25Lost 1
79April 13vs SeattleWin1137354-25Won 1
80April 15vs LA ClippersWin12311955-25Won 2
81April 18vs DallasWin11210256-25Won 3OT
82April 20at San AntonioWin1039957-25Won 4

Playoffs

West First Round

(3) Houston Rockets vs. (6) Minnesota Timberwolves Last Playoff Meeting: Not available (first playoff series)

Game Date Visitor Score Home Score Record

(HOU-MIN)

 Venue Recap Television
1 April 24 Houston 112 Minnesota 95 1-0 The Summit, Houston, Texas 1
2 April 26 Houston 96 Minnesota 84 2-0 The Summit, Houston, Texas 2 NBC
3 April 29 Minnesota 120 Houston 125 3-0 Target Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota 3
Houston wins series 3–0

West Conference Semifinals

(2) Seattle SuperSonics vs. (3) Houston Rockets Last Playoff Meeting: 1996 Western Conference Semifinals (Seattle won 4-0)

Game Date Home Score Visitor Score Record

(HOU-SEA)

 Venue Recap Television
1 May 5 Houston 112 Seattle 102 1-0 The Summit, Houston, Texas 1
2 May 7 Houston 101 Seattle 106 1-1 The Summit, Houston, Texas 2
3 May 9 Seattle 93 Houston 97 2-1 KeyArena, Seattle 3
4 May 11 Seattle 106 Houston 110 3-1 KeyArena, Seattle, Washington 4 NBC
5 May 13 Houston 94 Seattle 100 3-2 The Summit, Houston, Texas 5
6 May 15 Seattle 99 Houston 96 3-3 KeyArena, Seattle, Washington 6 TNT
7 May 17 Houston 96 Seattle 91 4-3 The Summit, Houston, Texas 7 NBC
Houston wins series 4–3

West Conference Finals

(1) Utah Jazz vs. (3) Houston Rockets Last Playoff Meeting: 1995 Western Conference First Round (Houston won 3-2)

Game Date Home Score Visitor Score Record

(UTAH-HOU)

 Venue Recap Television
1 May 19 Utah 101 Houston 86 1-0 Delta Center, Salt Lake City, Utah 1 NBC
2 May 21 Utah 104 Houston 92 2-0 Delta Center, Salt Lake City, Utah 2 NBC
3 May 23 Houston 118 Utah 100 2-1 The Summit, Houston, Texas 3 NBC
4 May 25 Houston 95 Utah 92 2-2 The Summit, Houston, Texas 4 NBC
5 May 27 Utah 96 Houston 91 3-2 Delta Center, Salt Lake City, Utah 5 NBC
6 May 29 Houston 100 Utah 103 4-2 The Summit, Houston, Texas 6 NBC
Utah wins series 4–2

Player statistics
Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game

Season
Player GP GS MPG FG% 3FG% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG

Playoffs
Player GP GS MPG FG% 3FG% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG

Awards and records

Awards

Records

Transactions

Trades

Free agents

See also

References
  1. 1996-97 Houston Rockets
  2. "Barkley Confirms His Trade To Rockets". New York Times. August 19, 1996. Retrieved February 28, 2017.
  3. "Stockton Sends Jazz to Finals At Last Second". New York Times. May 30, 1997. Retrieved July 24, 2017.
  4. Numbelivable!, p.101, Michael X. Ferraro and John Veneziano, Triumph Books, Chicago, Illinois, 2007, ISBN 978-1-57243-990-0
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