![]() However, they struggled to maintain last season's form due to injuries and off-court-distractions. They have won the first eight games of the season, the first defending champions to have won their first eight games of their season since the 1987-88 Lakers. The Rockets entered the 1994–95 season as defending champions. Main article: 1994–95 Houston Rockets season The season-ending documentary Double Clutch by Hal Douglas, was released by NBA Entertainment to coincide with the Rockets' championship season. In achieving this, they earned the distinction of being the only team to win both championships during Michael Jordan's first retirement (although Jordan did return in the closing months of the 1994–95 season), in addition to being the only team other than the Chicago Bulls to win multiple championships in the 1990s. The more experienced Rockets went on to win in overtime and eventually swept the Magic, winning their second consecutive NBA Championship. With the Magic up 110–107 late in Game 1, Nick Anderson missed four consecutive free throws in the closing seconds of the game, and Kenny Smith hit a three-pointer, tying the game and sending it to overtime as well as setting a new record at the time, with the most three-pointers in an NBA Finals game with seven. The Orlando Magic, making their first NBA Finals appearance, began the series at home, hosting the defending champion Houston Rockets. Coincidentally, this feat would also be achieved in the NHL by the New Jersey Devils that same year, when they won the Stanley Cup over the Detroit Red Wings. In addition, the Rockets became the first team in NBA history to win the title without having home-court advantage in any of the four playoff rounds since the playoffs was expanded to a 16 team format in 1984. The Rockets also became the first repeat NBA Champion in history to keep the title with a sweep. It was the second NBA Finals sweep in the 2–3–2 Finals format (after the Detroit Pistons did so against the Los Angeles Lakers in 1989). The Rockets would win a playoff-record nine road games in the 1995 playoffs. The Rockets became the first team in NBA history to beat four 50-win teams in a single postseason en route to the championship. Going into the series the matchup was compared to the Bill Russell– Wilt Chamberlain matchup of the 1960s. ![]() The pre-series hype and buildup of the Finals was centered on the meeting of the two centers opposing each other: Shaquille O'Neal of the Magic and Hakeem Olajuwon of the Rockets. The series pitted the Eastern Conference champion Orlando Magic against the defending NBA champion and Western Conference champion Houston Rockets. The 1995 NBA Finals was the championship round of the 1994–95 National Basketball Association (NBA) season.
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