1992–93 Houston Rockets season

The 1992–93 Houston Rockets season was the 26th season for the Houston Rockets in the National Basketball Association, and their 22nd season in Houston, Texas. After missing the NBA playoffs the previous year, the Rockets received the eleventh overall pick in the 1992 NBA draft, and selected power forward Robert Horry from the University of Alabama. During the off-season, the team acquired Scott Brooks from the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Early into the regular season, the Rockets traveled overseas to Yokohama, Japan to play their first two games against the Seattle SuperSonics at the Yokohama Arena. In the first game on November 6, 1992, the Rockets were the home team, and lost to the SuperSonics by a score of 111–94; Hakeem Olajuwon led the team with 21 points, 17 rebounds and 5 blocks, while Kenny Smith finished with 21 points and 9 assists, and Vernon Maxwell also added 21 points. In the second game on November 7, the Rockets were the road team and lost to the SuperSonics by a score of 89–85; Olajuwon finished with 18 points, 16 rebounds, 3 steals and 5 blocks. Both games had an attendance of 14,544 fans at the Yokohama Arena.

With the addition of Horry, the Rockets got off to a 14–9 start to the regular season, but then struggled posting a seven-game losing streak between December and January. However, the team posted an eight-game winning streak in January afterwards, and later on held a 30–21 record at the All-Star break. The Rockets went 25–6 for the remainder of the season, posting a 15-game winning streak between February and March, and then posting an 11-game winning streak in April, as the team signed free agent Terry Teagle, who played in the final two games of the regular season. The Rockets finished in first place in the Midwest Division with a 55–27 record, earned the second seed in the Western Conference, and returned to the NBA playoffs after a one-year absence.

Olajuwon averaged 26.1 points, 13.0 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 1.8 steals and 4.2 blocks per game, and was named the NBA Defensive Player of the Year; he was also named to the All-NBA First Team, and to the NBA All-Defensive First Team. In addition, Maxwell averaged 13.8 points and 4.2 assists per game, and led the Rockets with 120 three-point field goals, while Smith contributed 13.0 points and 5.4 assists per game, Otis Thorpe provided the team with 12.8 points and 8.2 rebounds per game, and Horry averaged 10.1 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.1 blocks per game, and was named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team. Off the bench, second-year forward Carl Herrera averaged 7.5 points and 5.6 rebounds per game, while three-point specialist Matt Bullard contributed 7.3 points per game, and Brooks provided with 6.3 points and 3.0 assists per game.

During the NBA All-Star weekend at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah, Olajuwon was selected for the 1993 NBA All-Star Game, as a member of the Western Conference All-Star team. Meanwhile, Smith participated in the NBA Slam Dunk Contest for the third time, and also participated in the NBA Three-Point Shootout. Olajuwon also finished in second place in Most Valuable Player voting, behind Charles Barkley of the Phoenix Suns, while head coach Rudy Tomjanovich finished in second place in Coach of the Year voting, behind Pat Riley of the New York Knicks.

In the Western Conference First Round of the 1993 NBA playoffs, the Rockets faced off against the 7th–seeded Los Angeles Clippers, a team that featured All-Star forward Danny Manning, Ron Harper and Mark Jackson. The Rockets took a 2–1 series lead before losing Game 4 to the Clippers on the road, 93–90 at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena. With the series tied at 2–2, the Rockets won Game 5 over the Clippers at home, 84–80 at The Summit to win in a hard-fought five-game series.

In the Western Conference Semi-finals, the team faced off against the 3rd–seeded Seattle SuperSonics, a team that featured All-Star forward Shawn Kemp, Ricky Pierce and Gary Payton. The Rockets lost the first two games to the SuperSonics on the road at the Seattle Center Coliseum, but managed to win the next two games at The Summit. After losing Game 5 at the Seattle Center Coliseum, 120–95, the Rockets won Game 6 over the SuperSonics at The Summit, 103–90 to even the series. However, the Rockets lost Game 7 to the SuperSonics at the Seattle Center Coliseum in overtime, 103–100, thus losing in a hard-fought seven-game series.

A notable note about the Rockets' playoff run that year was the final game of the regular season; the Rockets were playing against the San Antonio Spurs at the HemisFair Arena on April 25, 1993, with the Rockets leading by two points in the final seconds, until Spurs All-Star center David Robinson tip-dunked a missed shot after time expired; it was ruled good, and the Rockets went on to lose in overtime, 119–117, tying their record with Seattle, and losing home-court advantage due to their match-up tie-breaker against the SuperSonics in the second round.

The Rockets finished 22nd in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 554,210 at The Summit during the regular season. Following the season, Sleepy Floyd signed as a free agent with the San Antonio Spurs, and Teagle was released to free agency.