1997–98 Houston Rockets season

The 1997–98 Houston Rockets season was the 31st season for the Houston Rockets in the National Basketball Association, and their 27th season in Houston, Texas. The Rockets had the 24th overall pick in the 1997 NBA draft, and selected shooting guard Rodrick Rhodes from the University of Southern California.

The Rockets got off to a slow 3–5 start to the regular season, but then posted a nine-game winning streak afterwards, winning 12 of their first 17 games of the season. However, Hakeem Olajuwon suffered a knee injury in November and only played just 47 games. Without Olajuwon for most of the first half of the season, and with aging players on the team, the Rockets struggled and fell below .500 in winning percentage, holding a 22–24 record at the All-Star break. At mid-season, the team changed their starting lineup, replacing Charles Barkley at power forward with Kevin Willis, as Barkley played a sixth man role off the bench for the remainder of the season; Willis had previously started at center in Olajuwon's absence. Olajuwon eventually returned as the Rockets finished in fourth place in the Midwest Division with a mediocre 41–41 record, and earned the eighth seed in the Western Conference; the team also qualified for the NBA playoffs for the sixth consecutive year.

Clyde Drexler averaged 18.4 points, 5.5 assists and 1.8 steals per game, and contributed 106 three-point field goals, while Willis averaged 16.1 points and 8.4 rebounds per game, Olajuwon provided the team with 16.4 points, 9.8 rebounds, 1.8 steals and 2.0 blocks per game, and Barkley provided with 15.2 points and 11.7 rebounds per game. In addition, second-year guard, and three-point specialist Matt Maloney contributed 8.6 points per game, and led the Rockets with 126 three-point field goals, while Mario Elie and Eddie Johnson both averaged 8.4 points per game each. Meanwhile, three-point specialist Matt Bullard provided with 7.0 points per game, second-year forward Othella Harrington averaged 6.0 points and 3.6 rebounds per game, Rhodes contributed 5.8 points per game, and Brent Price provided with 5.6 points and 2.7 assists per game.

During the NBA All-Star weekend at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York, Drexler won the inaugural NBA 2Ball Competition, along with Cynthia Cooper of the WNBA's Houston Comets. Meanwhile, Rhodes was selected for the NBA Rookie Game, as a member of the Western Conference Rookie team. Neither Drexler, Olajuwon or Barkley were selected for the 1998 NBA All-Star Game.

In the Western Conference First Round of the 1998 NBA playoffs, and for the second consecutive year, and the fourth time in five years, the Rockets faced off against the top–seeded, and Midwest Division champion Utah Jazz, who were led by the trio of All-Star forward Karl Malone, All-Star guard John Stockton, and Jeff Hornacek. In a rematch of last year's Western Conference Finals, and with the series tied at 1–1, the Rockets won Game 3 over the Jazz at home, 89–85 at The Summit to take a 2–1 series lead. However, Barkley suffered a torn triceps muscle injury in Game 4, in which the Rockets lost at home to the Jazz, 93–71. Without Barkley, the Rockets lost Game 5 to the Jazz on the road, 84–70 at the Delta Center, thus losing in a hard-fought five-game series. It was the first time that the Rockets lost in the opening round of the NBA playoffs since the 1990–91 season. The Jazz would go on to lose in six games to the 2-time defending NBA champion Chicago Bulls in the 1998 NBA Finals for the second straight year.

The Rockets finished 17th in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 670,117 at The Summit during the regular season. This was the final season for Drexler, who received a standing ovation after the Rockets' Game 5 loss to the Jazz at the Delta Center; he then retired to take over the head coaching job at the University of Houston, where he had played college basketball along with Olajuwon, ending his 15-year career in the NBA. Also following the season, Willis was traded to the Toronto Raptors, while Elie signed as a free agent with the San Antonio Spurs, and reserve center Charles Jones, the oldest player in the league during the season, retired at age 41.

One notable highlight of the regular season occurred on December 6, 1997, in which the Rockets traveled to Mexico City, Mexico to play against the Dallas Mavericks at the Palacio de los Deportes (Sports Palace). Despite the Mavericks being the home team, the fans cheered for the Rockets. The Rockets defeated the Mavericks by a score of 108–106, in front of a sellout crowd of 20,635 fans in attendance; Barkley led the team with 19 points, 17 rebounds and 6 assists. It was the first ever NBA regular season game played in Mexico.