The
Houston Rockets became the lowest seeded team to ever win the NBA Finals, winning as the sixth seed in the Western Conference. The Rockets also became the first team to defeat four opponents who had 50 or more wins en route to a title (Utah, Phoenix, San Antonio and Orlando); the only other team ever to accomplish that feat was the 2000β01 Los Angeles Lakers.
Late in the season,
Michael Jordan returned to the
Chicago Bulls after an attempt at a minor-league
baseball career. His announcement consisted of a two-word fax: "I'm back." Because 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 (renamed as the Veterans Memorial Coliseum as of 2012). They would host a preseason game at the Coliseum in 2009.
The Chicago Bulls played their first season at the
United Center.
The Cleveland Cavaliers played their first season at Gund Arena (now known as
Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse).
Due to extensive renovations to the Seattle Center Coliseum (renamed as
KeyArena following the season), the Seattle SuperSonics played their home games at the
Tacoma Dome, in nearby
Tacoma, Washington.
The
Orlando Magic became the first of the four late 1980s expansion franchises to reach the NBA Finals. They were swept in four 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.
Moses Malone, the only remaining active former
ABA player, announced his retirement after 19 NBA seasons. Malone, who came to the professional level without any
college basketball experience, retired just in time for a new generation of
prep-to-pro stars like
Kevin Garnett and
Kobe Bryant to arrive on the scene.
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
1996β97 NBA season.[1]Orlando Magic forward
Dennis Scott set a then-single season record for most three-pointers made with 267 during the
1995β96 NBA season (Later surpassed by
Stephen Curry, who notched 402 three-pointers in the
2015β16 NBA season).[2] The NBA would revert to its original three-point field goal parameters of 23 feet, 9 inches (22 feet at the corners) at the start of the
1997β98 NBA season.[3]
Starting this season, players fouled while in the act of shooting a three-point attempt would get three free throws instead of two.[4]
Hand-checking was eliminated from the end line in the backcourt to the opposite foul line.[5]
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.
The
Miami Heat made two blockbuster trades. The first one was 2 days before the season when Miami traded
Rony Seikaly to the
Golden State Warriors for
Billy Owens and
Sasha Danilovic. Then, 2 games into the season after a game against the
Phoenix Suns, Miami traded
Grant Long,
Steve Smith and a 1996 1st round pick to the
Atlanta Hawks for
Kevin Willis and a 1996 1st round pick. The latter trade was so one-sided (Miami missed the playoffs altogether while Atlanta became a contender in the East) that it was credited with spurring the Heat to make their biggest decision in franchise history: hiring
Pat Riley to be their coach and top executive.
In the last game of the regular season for both teams, the
Denver Nuggets defeated the
Sacramento Kings to obtain the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference. Had the Kings won, they would have qualified instead. They had missed the playoffs for nine straight seasons. As for the Nuggets, this was their final postseason appearance until 2004.
On November 5, 1994, the
San Antonio Spurs first home of the season, against the
Golden State Warriors, was delayed for 50 minutes as the pregame fireworks show triggered a water cannon that sent water blasting down on fans, players and coaches for four minutes before it was shut off.[6]
1994β95 NBA changes
The
Atlanta Hawks added new black alternate uniforms.
The
Cleveland Cavaliers changed their logo and uniforms, replacing their blue and orange colors with light blue, remained orange and black. They also moved into the
Gund Arena.
The
Detroit Pistons added new red alternate uniforms with side panels to their jerseys and shorts.
The
Orlando Magic changed their road uniforms to blue pinstripe jerseys, while their primary black pinstripe uniforms became their alternate jerseys.
The
Philadelphia 76ers changed their uniforms, adding side panels and removing stars to the jerseys and shorts.
The
Phoenix Suns added new black alternate uniforms.
The
Sacramento Kings changed their logo and uniforms, replacing their blue and red colors with purple and black. They also added new half black and half purple alternate uniforms.
NOTE: The
Detroit Pistons finished the 1994β95 NBA season with a 28β54 winβloss record along with a .341 win percentage, and finished 29 games behind the #1 seed
Orlando Magic. The Pistons also posted a 22β19 record at home, a 6β35 record on the road, and an 8β20 record against teams in the Central Division.[7]
Notes
z β Clinched home court advantage for the entire playoffs
c β Clinched home court advantage for the conference 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.
The
Houston Rockets became the lowest seeded team to ever win the NBA Finals, winning as the sixth seed in the Western Conference. The Rockets also became the first team to defeat four opponents who had 50 or more wins en route to a title (Utah, Phoenix, San Antonio and Orlando); the only other team ever to accomplish that feat was the 2000β01 Los Angeles Lakers.
Late in the season,
Michael Jordan returned to the
Chicago Bulls after an attempt at a minor-league
baseball career. His announcement consisted of a two-word fax: "I'm back." Because 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 (renamed as the Veterans Memorial Coliseum as of 2012). They would host a preseason game at the Coliseum in 2009.
The Chicago Bulls played their first season at the
United Center.
The Cleveland Cavaliers played their first season at Gund Arena (now known as
Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse).
Due to extensive renovations to the Seattle Center Coliseum (renamed as
KeyArena following the season), the Seattle SuperSonics played their home games at the
Tacoma Dome, in nearby
Tacoma, Washington.
The
Orlando Magic became the first of the four late 1980s expansion franchises to reach the NBA Finals. They were swept in four 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.
Moses Malone, the only remaining active former
ABA player, announced his retirement after 19 NBA seasons. Malone, who came to the professional level without any
college basketball experience, retired just in time for a new generation of
prep-to-pro stars like
Kevin Garnett and
Kobe Bryant to arrive on the scene.
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
1996β97 NBA season.[1]Orlando Magic forward
Dennis Scott set a then-single season record for most three-pointers made with 267 during the
1995β96 NBA season (Later surpassed by
Stephen Curry, who notched 402 three-pointers in the
2015β16 NBA season).[2] The NBA would revert to its original three-point field goal parameters of 23 feet, 9 inches (22 feet at the corners) at the start of the
1997β98 NBA season.[3]
Starting this season, players fouled while in the act of shooting a three-point attempt would get three free throws instead of two.[4]
Hand-checking was eliminated from the end line in the backcourt to the opposite foul line.[5]
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.
The
Miami Heat made two blockbuster trades. The first one was 2 days before the season when Miami traded
Rony Seikaly to the
Golden State Warriors for
Billy Owens and
Sasha Danilovic. Then, 2 games into the season after a game against the
Phoenix Suns, Miami traded
Grant Long,
Steve Smith and a 1996 1st round pick to the
Atlanta Hawks for
Kevin Willis and a 1996 1st round pick. The latter trade was so one-sided (Miami missed the playoffs altogether while Atlanta became a contender in the East) that it was credited with spurring the Heat to make their biggest decision in franchise history: hiring
Pat Riley to be their coach and top executive.
In the last game of the regular season for both teams, the
Denver Nuggets defeated the
Sacramento Kings to obtain the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference. Had the Kings won, they would have qualified instead. They had missed the playoffs for nine straight seasons. As for the Nuggets, this was their final postseason appearance until 2004.
On November 5, 1994, the
San Antonio Spurs first home of the season, against the
Golden State Warriors, was delayed for 50 minutes as the pregame fireworks show triggered a water cannon that sent water blasting down on fans, players and coaches for four minutes before it was shut off.[6]
1994β95 NBA changes
The
Atlanta Hawks added new black alternate uniforms.
The
Cleveland Cavaliers changed their logo and uniforms, replacing their blue and orange colors with light blue, remained orange and black. They also moved into the
Gund Arena.
The
Detroit Pistons added new red alternate uniforms with side panels to their jerseys and shorts.
The
Orlando Magic changed their road uniforms to blue pinstripe jerseys, while their primary black pinstripe uniforms became their alternate jerseys.
The
Philadelphia 76ers changed their uniforms, adding side panels and removing stars to the jerseys and shorts.
The
Phoenix Suns added new black alternate uniforms.
The
Sacramento Kings changed their logo and uniforms, replacing their blue and red colors with purple and black. They also added new half black and half purple alternate uniforms.
NOTE: The
Detroit Pistons finished the 1994β95 NBA season with a 28β54 winβloss record along with a .341 win percentage, and finished 29 games behind the #1 seed
Orlando Magic. The Pistons also posted a 22β19 record at home, a 6β35 record on the road, and an 8β20 record against teams in the Central Division.[7]
Notes
z β Clinched home court advantage for the entire playoffs
c β Clinched home court advantage for the conference 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.