2014–15 Houston Rockets season

The 2014–15 Houston Rockets season was the 48th season of the franchise in the National Basketball Association (NBA), and the 44th in the Houston area.[1]

2014–15 Houston Rockets season
Division champions
Head coachKevin McHale
General managerDaryl Morey
OwnersLeslie Alexander
ArenaToyota Center
Results
Record56–26 (.683)
PlaceDivision: 1st (Southwest)
Conference: 2nd (Western)
Playoff finishWestern Conference Finals
(Lost to Warriors 1–4)
Stats @ Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
TelevisionRoot Sports Southwest
RadioSportstalk 790

The Rockets finished the regular season with a 56–26 record, the third best in franchise history. They also won their first ever Southwest Division title and first Division crown since 1994. The Rockets beat the Dallas Mavericks 4–1 in the first round, advancing to the Western Conference Semifinals for the first time since 2009. They beat the Los Angeles Clippers in seven games after trailing the series 1–3, advancing to the Western Conference Finals for the first time since 1997. They became just the ninth team in NBA history to come back from such a deficit – and currently the only franchise to do so twice. The Rockets' season ended with a 1–4 loss in the Western Conference Finals to the eventual NBA champion Golden State Warriors.

Draft picks
Main article: 2014 NBA draft
Round Pick Player Position Nationality College/Team
1 25 Clint Capela PF/C   Switzerland Élan Chalon (France)
2 42 Nick Johnson PG/SG  United States Arizona

Standings
Southwest Division W L PCT GB Home Road Div GP
y-Houston Rockets 56 26 .683 0.0 30–11 26–15 8–8 82
x-Memphis Grizzlies 55 27 .671 1.0 31–10 24–17 9–7 82
x-San Antonio Spurs 55 27 .671 1.0 33–8 22–19 8–8 82
x-Dallas Mavericks 50 32 .610 6.0 27–14 23–18 7–9 82
x-New Orleans Pelicans 45 37 .549 11.0 28–13 17–24 8–8 82
Western Conference
# Team W L PCT GB GP
1 z-Golden State Warriors * 67 15 .817 – 82
2 y-Houston Rockets * 56 26 .683 11.0 82
3 x-Los Angeles Clippers 56 26 .683 11.0 82
4 y-Portland Trail Blazers * 51 31 .622 16.0 82
5 x-Memphis Grizzlies 55 27 .671 12.0 82
6 x-San Antonio Spurs 55 27 .671 12.0 82
7 x-Dallas Mavericks 50 32 .610 17.0 82
8 x-New Orleans Pelicans 45 37 .549 22.0 82
9 Oklahoma City Thunder 45 37 .549 22.0 82
10 Phoenix Suns 39 43 .476 28.0 82
11 Utah Jazz 38 44 .463 29.0 82
12 Denver Nuggets 30 52 .366 37.0 82
13 Sacramento Kings 29 53 .354 38.0 82
14 Los Angeles Lakers 21 61 .256 46.0 82
15 Minnesota Timberwolves 16 66 .195 51.0 82

Game log

Preseason
2014 pre-season game log
Total: 6–2 (Home: 4–0; Road: 2–2)
Pre-season: 6–2 (Home: 4–0; Road: 2–2)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation
Attendance		Record
1October 7@ Dallas W 111–108 Donatas Motiejūnas (18) Howard, Papanikolaou (6) Patrick Beverley (4) American Airlines Center
17,227		 1–0
2October 9Memphis W 113–93 James Harden (21) Tarik Black (15) Harden, Johnson (4) Toyota Center
15,301		 2–0
3October 13Phoenix W 95–92 Terrence Jones (18) Black, Jones (7) Isaiah Canaan (3) Toyota Center
14,642		 3–0
4October 14@ New Orleans L 98–117 Canaan, Papanikolaou (13) Ariza, Black (5) Ariza, Beverley, Smith (3) Toyota Center
14,266		 3–1
5October 19Golden State W 90–83 James Harden (15) Dorsey, Howard (8) James Harden (6) State Farm Arena
5,647		 4–1
6October 21@ Miami L 85–90 Harden, Howard (19) Donatas Motiejūnas (10) Beverley, Smith (3) American Airlines Arena
19,600		 4–2
7October 22@ Orlando W 90–89 Canaan, Daniels (14) Black, Jones (8) Kostas Papanikolaou (5) Amway Center
14,742		 5–2
8October 24San Antonio W 96–87 James Harden (25) Terrence Jones (13) Kostas Papanikolaou (4) Toyota Center
18,305		 6–2
2014–15 season schedule

Regular season
2014–15 game log
Total: 56–26 (Home: 30–11; Road: 26–15)
October: 2–0 (Home: 0–0; Road: 2–0)
November: 11–4 (Home: 6–3; Road: 5–1)
December: 9–5 (Home: 5–3; Road: 4–2)
January: 11–6 (Home: 5–1; Road: 6–5)
February: 7–3 (Home: 6–1; Road: 1–2)
March: 10–6 (Home: 5–2; Road: 5–4)
April : 6–2 (Home: 3–1; Road: 3–1)
2014–15 season schedule

Playoffs
2015 playoff game log
Total: 9–8 (Home: 7–2; Road: 2–6)
First Round: 4–1 (Home: 3–0; Road: 1–1)
Conference Semifinals: 4–3 (Home: 3–1; Road: 1–2)
Conference Finals: 1–4 (Home: 1–1; Road: 0–3)
2015 playoff schedule

Roster
Roster listing
2014–15 Houston Rockets roster
PlayersCoaches
Pos.No.NameHeightWeightDOB (YYYY-MM-DD)From
G/F 1 Ariza, Trevor 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1985–06–30 UCLA
G 2 Beverley, Patrick 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1988–07–12 Arkansas
G/F 33 Brewer, Corey 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 186 lb (84 kg) 1986–03–05 Florida
F/C 15 Capela, Clint 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 240 lb (109 kg) 1994–05–18 INSEP (FRA)
F/C 8 Dorsey, Joey 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 275 lb (125 kg) 1983–12–16 Memphis
G 13 Harden, James (C) 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 1989–08–26 Arizona State
C 12 Howard, Dwight 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 275 lb (125 kg) 1985–12–08 SW Atlanta Academy (GA)
F 6 Jones, Terrence 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 252 lb (114 kg) 1992–01–09 Kentucky
G/F 32 McDaniels, K. J. 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1993–02–09 Clemson
F/C 20 Motiejūnas, Donatas 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 255 lb (116 kg) 1990–09–20 Lithuania
F 16 Papanikolaou, Kostas 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 235 lb (107 kg) 1990–07–31 Greece
G 9 Prigioni, Pablo 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1977–05–17 Argentina
F 5 Smith, Josh 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 1985–12–05 Oak Hill Academy (VA)
G 31 Terry, Jason 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1977–09–15 Arizona
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • (DL) On assignment to D-League affiliate
  • Injured

Roster
Last transaction: 2015–03–27

Salaries
Player 2014–15 Salary
Dwight Howard $21,436,271
James Harden $14,728,844
Trevor Ariza $8,579,089
Jason Terry $5,850,313
Kostas Papanikolaou $4,797,664
Corey Brewer $4,702,500
Josh Smith $2,077,000
Pablo Prigioni $1,662,961
Terrence Jones $1,618,680
Donatas Motiejūnas $1,483,920
Clint Capela $1,189,200
Joey Dorsey $948,163
Patrick Beverley $915,243
K. J. McDaniels $507,336
TOTAL $71,004,520

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

Regular season
NBA roster statistics
Player GP GS MPG FG% 3FG% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
Trevor Ariza 828235.7.402.350.8505.62.51.90.212.8
Patrick Beverley 565530.8.383.356.7504.23.41.10.410.1
Tarik Black‡‡ 251215.7.542.000.5205.10.30.20.14.2
Corey Brewer 56125.1.429.284.7603.61.71.10.311.9
Isaiah Canaan‡ 25914.8.405.381.7602.72.00.70.06.2
Clint Capela 1207.5.483.000.1703.00.20.10.82.7
Troy Daniels‡ 1706.4.319.302.7500.40.20.00.02.7
Joey Dorsey 691712.4.552.000.2904.00.40.60.42.7
Francisco García‡‡ 14014.3.270.222.2501.21.10.60.43.2
James Harden 818136.8.440.375.8705.77.01.90.727.4
Dwight Howard 414129.8.593.500.53010.51.20.71.315.8
Nick Johnson 2809.4.347.238.6801.40.40.30.12.6
Terrence Jones 332426.9.528.351.6106.71.10.61.811.7
K. J. McDaniels 1003.3.333.000.5000.50.20.00.21.1
Donatas Motiejūnas 716228.7.504.368.6005.91.80.80.512.0
Kostas Papanikolaou 43118.5.350.292.7202.72.00.70.34.2
Pablo Prigioni 24016.8.343.275.8701.62.81.10.03.0
Alexey Shved‡ 906.6.333.333.8200.40.30.10.03.2
Josh Smith 55725.5.438.330.5206.02.60.91.212.0
Jason Terry 771821.3.422.390.8101.61.90.90.37.0

‡Traded mid-season ‡‡Waived during season

Injuries
Player Duration Injury type Games missed
Start End
Patrick Beverley November 1, 2014 November 4, 2014 Hamstring 2
Terrence Jones November 3, 2014 January 28, 2015 Left leg nerve inflammation 41
Patrick Beverley November 6, 2014 November 16, 2014 Hamstring 4
Dwight Howard November 19, 2014 December 13, 2014 Strained knee 11
Patrick Beverley November 24, 2014 December 6, 2014 Hamstring 6
Isaiah Canaan November 28, 2014 December 17, 2014 Sprained ankle 7
Kostas Papanikolaou December 5, 2014 December 18, 2014 Sprained knee 5
Dwight Howard January 23, 2015 March 25, 2015 Swelling in right knee 26
Kostas Papanikolaou February 23, 2015 April 8, 2015 Sprained ankle 22
Terrence Jones March 19, 2015 April 1, 2015 Partially collapsed lung 6
Patrick Beverley March 23, 2015 Missed rest of season Torn ligaments in left wrist 12
Donatas Motiejūnas March 27, 2015 Missed rest of season Back surgery 11

Transactions
Main article: List of 2014–15 NBA season transactions

The Rockets had a busy offseason, trading away key contributors Jeremy Lin and Ömer Aşık in July to clear cap space. Houston was after marquee free agents such as LeBron James, Chris Bosh, and Carmelo Anthony, but struck out on all three of those players. The Rockets also let Chandler Parsons, another key contributor from the previous season, sign with the Dallas Mavericks in July, declining to match the hefty offer sheet Parsons received from Dallas. The Rockets would eventually make up for these losses throughout the summer and regular season. As part of the Aşık deal, the Rockets received Trevor Ariza from the Washington Wizards in a sign and trade. Ariza replaced Parsons as the team's starting small forward. In September, the team traded for Jason Terry, a former sixth man of the year with the Mavericks. Terry provided veteran leadership and a spark off the bench for the Rockets. In December, the Rockets acquired Corey Brewer and Josh Smith, who both added significant depth to the roster. At the trade deadline in February, the Rockets acquired Pablo Prigioni and K. J. McDaniels in two separate deals.

Trades
July 13, 2014[2] To Houston Rockets
Rights to Sergei Lishouk		 To Los Angeles Lakers
Jeremy Lin
Future first round draft pick
Second round draft pick (2015)
July 15, 2014[3] Three-team trade
To Houston Rockets
Trevor Ariza (Sign and trade from Washington)
Alonzo Gee (from New Orleans)
Scotty Hopson (from New Orleans)
Protected first round draft pick (2015, from New Orleans)
 To New Orleans Pelicans
Ömer Aşık (from Houston)
Omri Casspi (from Houston)
Cash considerations (from Houston)
To Washington Wizards
Melvin Ely (from New Orleans)
September 17, 2014[4] To Houston Rockets
Jason Terry
Second round draft pick (2015)
Second round draft pick (2016)		 To Sacramento Kings
Alonzo Gee
Scotty Hopson
December 19, 2014[5] Three-team trade
To Houston Rockets
Corey Brewer (from Minnesota)
Alexey Shved (from Philadelphia)
 To Minnesota Timberwolves
Troy Daniels (from Houston)
Second round draft pick (2015, from Houston, belonging to Sacramento Kings)
Second round draft pick (2016, from Houston)
Cash considerations (from Houston)
To Philadelphia 76ers
Ronny Turiaf (from Minnesota)
Rights to Sergei Lishouk (from Houston)
Second round draft pick (2015, from Houston)
February 19, 2015[6] To Houston Rockets
Pablo Prigioni		 To New York Knicks
Alexey Shved
Second round draft pick (2017)
Second round draft pick (2019)
February 19, 2015[7] To Houston Rockets
K. J. McDaniels		 To Philadelphia 76ers
Isaiah Canaan
Second round draft pick (2015)

Free agents

Re-signed
Player Signed Contract Ref.
Troy Daniels July 14, 2014 2 years, $2 million [8]
Francisco García August 22, 2014 1 year, $1.3 million [9]
Kevin McHale[lower-alpha 1] December 24, 2014 3 years, $13 million [10][11]

Additions
Player Signed Former team Ref.
Joey Dorsey July 18, 2014 FC Barcelona Basquet [12]
Tarik Black August 27, 2014 Kansas Jayhawks men's basketball [13]
Kostas Papanikolaou September 23, 2014 FC Barcelona Basquet [14]
Josh Smith December 26, 2014 Detroit Pistons [15]

Subtractions
Player Reason left Date New team Ref.
Chandler Parsons[lower-alpha 2] Free agency July 15, 2014 Dallas Mavericks [16]
Josh Powell Waived October 24, 2014 None [17]
Robert Covington Waived October 27, 2014 Philadelphia 76ers [18]
Francisco García Waived December 19, 2014 None [19]
Tarik Black Waived December 26, 2014 Los Angeles Lakers [20]

Notes
  1. Was in the final year of his contract as head coach. Midway through the season he signed a contract extension to remain head coach for the next three years.
  2. Was a restricted free agent entering the offseason. Signed an offer sheet with Dallas on July 10, 2014. A few days later, the Rockets elected not to match the offer, clearing the way for Parsons to officially sign with the Mavericks.

Awards, records and milestones
Player Award Date awarded Ref.
James Harden Western Conference Player of the Week December 15, 2014 [21]
James Harden Western Conference Player of the Week December 29, 2014 [22]
James Harden Western Conference Player of the Month (December) January 5, 2015 [23]
James Harden Western Conference Player of the Month (January) February 4, 2015 [24]
James Harden Western Conference Player of the Week April 6, 2015 [25]
James Harden All-NBA First Team May 21, 2015 [26]

Records
  • Clint Capela missed the first 15 free throw attempts of his career, setting an NBA record.

Milestones
  • On December 13, Dwight Howard reached 10,000 career rebounds.[27] At 29 years, 5 days, Howard became the third youngest player in NBA history to reach 10,000 career rebounds. Only Wilt Chamberlain (28 years, 81 days) and Bill Russell (28 years, 285 days) reached the milestone at a younger age.[28]

References
  1. Houston Rockets Franchise Index
  2. Lakers Acquire Jeremy Lin and Draft Choices in Trade with Rockets
  3. Rockets Land Ariza and Valuable First Round Pick
  4. Rockets Acquire Jason Terry and 2nd Round Picks
  5. Rockets Acquire Veterans Corey Brewer and Alexey Shved in Three-Team Trade with Timberwolves and 76ers
  6. Knicks Acquire Alexey Shved and Two Draft Picks
  7. Rockets Acquire K.J. McDaniels and Pablo Prigioni
  8. Rockets Re-Sign Troy Daniels
  9. Rockets Re-Sign Francisco Garcia
  10. McHale Signs Contract Extension
  11. Sources: Kevin McHale agrees to extension with Rockets
  12. Rockets Add Depth to Roster with Signings
  13. Rockets Sign Tarik Black
  14. Rockets Sign Kostas Papanikolaou
  15. Free Agent Josh Smith Joins Houston Rockets
  16. Mavericks Sign Chandler Parsons
  17. Rockets Claim Earl Clark Off Waivers and Request Waivers on Josh Powell
  18. Sixers Sign Free Agent Robert Covington
  19. Rockets Acquire Veterans Corey Brewer and Alexey Shved in Three-Team Trade with Timberwolves and 76ers
  20. Lakers Awarded Tarik Black on Waiver Claim
  21. Wall, Harden named Players of Week
  22. Bulls' Butler, Rockets' Harden named Players of the Week
  23. Lowry, Harden named Kia Players of the Month
  24. Hawks' starters, Rockets' Harden named Kia Players of the Month
  25. James Harden Earns Western Conference Player of the Week
  26. James Harden Named to 2014-15 All-NBA First Team
  27. Rieken, Kristie (14 December 2014). "Howard, Harden lead Rockets over Nuggets, 108-96". NBA.com. Associated Press. Archived from the original on 28 December 2014. Retrieved 1 January 2015.
  28. http://stats.nba.com/featured/elias_top_5_questions_2014_11_19.html
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