1996–97 Houston Rockets season

The 1996–97 NBA season was the 30th season for the Houston Rockets in the National Basketball Association, and their 26th season in Houston, Texas. During the off-season, the Rockets acquired All-Star forward Charles Barkley from the Phoenix Suns, and signed free agents Kevin Willis, Brent Price, undrafted rookie guard Matt Maloney, and re-signed former Rockets forward and three-point specialist Matt Bullard, who was a member of the championship team from the 1994 NBA Finals.

The Rockets began the regular season with a 21–2 start, but later on struggled posting a six-game losing streak between January and February, and held a 32–16 record at the All-Star break. At mid-season, the team signed free agents Eddie Johnson and Sedale Threatt, as the Rockets won 14 of their final 17 games of the season, finishing in second place in the Midwest Division with a 57–25 record, earning the #3 seed in the Western Conference, and qualifying for the NBA playoffs for the fifth consecutive year.

Hakeem Olajuwon averaged 23.2 points, 9.2 rebounds and 2.2 blocks per game, and was named to the All-NBA First Team, and to the NBA All-Defensive Second Team, while Barkley averaged 19.2 points and 13.5 rebounds per game, but only played 53 games due to ankle and hip injuries, and Clyde Drexler provided the team with 18.0 points, 6.0 rebounds, 5.7 assists and 1.9 steals per game, along with 119 three-point field goals, but only played 62 games due to a hamstring injury. In addition, Mario Elie contributed 11.7 points and 4.0 assists per game, along with 120 three-point field goals, while Willis provided with 11.2 points and 7.5 rebounds per game, and Maloney contributed 9.4 points and 3.7 assists per game, led the Rockets with 154 three-point field goals, and was named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team.

Olajuwon, Barkley, Drexler and head coach Rudy Tomjanovich all represented the Western Conference during the 1997 NBA All-Star Game in Cleveland, Ohio. However, Barkley and Drexler did not play due to injuries; it was also the final All-Star selections for Olajuwon, Barkley and Drexler. Olajuwon also finished in seventh place in Most Valuable Player voting, and Elie finished tied in sixth place in Defensive Player of the Year voting.

In the Western Conference First Round of the 1997 NBA playoffs, the Rockets swept the Minnesota Timberwolves in three straight games. In the Western Conference Semi-finals, they jumped out to a 3–1 series lead over the Seattle SuperSonics. However, the SuperSonics 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, where they faced regular season MVP Karl Malone, John Stockton and the Utah Jazz. The Jazz won the first two games at home, but the Rockets would even the series at two games a piece as Johnson hit a three-point buzzer beater to win Game 4, 95–92 at home. However, the Rockets would lose to the Jazz in six games. The Jazz lost in the 1997 NBA Finals to the defending champion Chicago Bulls in six games.

Following the season, Threatt retired and three-point specialist Sam Mack was traded to the Vancouver Grizzlies. The Rockets did not reach the conference finals again until 2015, where they were defeated by the Golden State Warriors in five games.