The 1987–88 Houston Rockets season was the 21st season for the Houston Rockets in the National Basketball Association, and their 17th season in Houston, Texas.
Season summary
Off-season During the off-season, the Rockets signed free agents, former All-Star guard World B. Free and Lester Conner.
Regular season The Rockets also made two separate trades with the Golden State Warriors. Shortly before the start of the regular season in early November, the team traded Dave Feitl to the Warriors in exchange for Purvis Short, then in December, traded All-Star center Ralph Sampson, and Steve Harris in exchange for All-Star guard Sleepy Floyd, and All-Star center Joe Barry Carroll; Sampson and head coach Bill Fitch both feuded with each other during the season, which resulted in the trade. The Rockets got off to a 7–6 start in November, and later on held a 25–17 record at the All-Star break. The team won 9 of their 13 games in February, finished in fourth place in the Midwest Division with a 46–36 record, and earned the sixth seed in the Western Conference.
Akeem Olajuwon averaged 22.8 points, 12.1 rebounds, 2.1 steals and 2.7 blocks per game, and was named to the All-NBA First Team, and to the NBA All-Defensive First Team. In addition, Short played a sixth man role off the bench, averaging 14.3 points per game, while Floyd provided the team with 13.1 points and 6.2 assists per game in 59 games after the trade, Barry Carroll contributed 12.0 points, 6.3 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game off the bench in 63 games, and Rodney McCray provided with 12.4 points and 7.8 rebounds per game, and was also named to the NBA All-Defensive First Team. Meanwhile, Allen Leavell averaged 10.2 points, 5.1 assists and 1.6 steals per game, Jim Petersen provided with 8.9 points and 6.3 rebounds per game, Free contributed 6.4 points per game, and Robert Reid contributed 6.3 points per game.
During the NBA All-Star weekend at the Chicago Stadium in Chicago, Illinois, Olajuwon was selected for the 1988 NBA All-Star Game, as a member of the Western Conference All-Star team. Olajuwon scored 21 points along with 9 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 blocks, despite the Western Conference losing to the Eastern Conference, 138–133. He finished in third place in Defensive Player of the Year voting, and also finished in seventh place in Most Valuable Player voting.
The Rockets finished fifth in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 681,051 at The Summit during the regular season.
NBA playoffs In the Western Conference First Round of the 1988 NBA playoffs, the Rockets faced off against the 3rd–seeded Dallas Mavericks, a team that featured the quartet of All-Star forward Mark Aguirre, Rolando Blackman, Derek Harper and All-Star center James Donaldson. The Rockets lost Game 1 to the Mavericks on the road, 120–110 at the Reunion Arena, but managed to win Game 2 on the road, 119–108 to even the series; in Game 2, Floyd finished with 42 points and 9 assists, while Olajuwon contributed 41 points, 26 rebounds and 4 blocks. However, the Rockets lost the next two games at home, which included a Game 4 loss to the Mavericks at The Summit, 107–97, thus losing the series in four games.
Aftermath Following the season, Fitch was fired as head coach, while Barry Carroll and Conner were both traded to the New Jersey Nets, McCray and Petersen were both traded to the Sacramento Kings, Reid was dealt to the Charlotte Hornets expansion team, and Free retired.
Draft picks
RoundPickPlayerPositionNationalityCollege/Club team 2 35 Doug Lee SG/SF Purdue 4 82 Josh Niego Lewis 5 104 Andre LaFleur Northeastern 6 129 Fred Jenkins Tennessee 7 151 Clarence Grier Campbell
Roster
Regular season
Season standings
z – clinched division title y – clinched division title x – clinched playoff spot
Game log Regular season
|- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 2 | 9:30p.m. CST | @ L.A. Lakers | L 92–101 | Olajuwon (26) | Olajuwon (11) | Conner,Leavell (4) | The Forum17,505 | 1–1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 5 | 7:30p.m. CST | Utah | W 101–93 | Olajuwon (19) | Olajuwon (16) | Leavell,Maxwell (3) | The Summit16,614 | 4–1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 9 | 6:30p.m. CST | @ Atlanta | L 94–104 | Olajuwon (17) | Sampson (9) | Leavell,McCray (7) | The Omni16,451 | 6–3 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 10 | 7:00p.m. CST | Detroit | L 83–97 | Olajuwon (21) | Olajuwon (15) | Short (5) | The Summit16,611 | 6–4 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 12 | 8:30p.m. CST | @ Utah | L 96–118 | Sampson (19) | Sampson (11) | Conner,McCray (3) | Salt Palace12,212 | 7–5
|- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 18 | 7:30p.m. CST | Utah | W 98–93 | Leavell (20) | Olajuwon (14) | Leavell (8) | The Summit16,611 | 11–7 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 23 | 7:30p.m. CST | Atlanta | W 122–103 | Floyd (27) | McCray,Olajuwon (13) | McCray (9) | The Summit16,611 | 12–11 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 24 | 7:30p.m. CST | @ Dallas | L 100–105 | Olajuwon (24) | Olajuwon (14) | Leavell (7) | Reunion Arena17,007 | 12–12 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 25 | 6:30p.m. CST | @ Detroit | W 101–91 | Carroll (25) | Olajuwon (14) | Floyd (6) | Pontiac Silverdome26,498 | 13–12
|- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 28 | 7:30p.m. CST | Dallas | W 117–107 | Olajuwon (31) | Olajuwon (11) | Floyd (11) | The Summit16,611 | 16–12 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 35 | 4:00p.m. CST | @ L.A. Lakers | L 110–121 | Olajuwon (24) | Olajuwon (9) | Floyd (7) | The Forum17,505 | 20–15 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 40 | 7:30p.m. CST | @ Dallas | W 108–92 | Olajuwon (29) | McCray (12) | Floyd (8) | Reunion Arena17,007 | 23–17
|- align="center" |colspan="9" bgcolor="#bbcaff"|All-Star Break |- style="background:#cfc;" |- bgcolor="#bbffbb" |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 43 | 7:30p.m. CST | Boston | W 129–120 | Olajuwon (30) | Olajuwon (16) | Floyd (7) | The Summit16,611 | 26–17 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 48 | 7:30p.m. CST | L.A. Lakers | L 96–111 | Olajuwon (20) | Olajuwon (20) | Floyd (6) | The Summit16,611 | 29–19 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 51 | 7:30p.m. CST | Dallas | L 106–108 | Floyd (22) | McCray (13) | Floyd (11) | The Summit16,611 | 31–20
|- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 54 | 8:30p.m. CST | @ Utah | L 112–113 | Olajuwon (27) | McCray (13) | Short (5) | Salt Palace12,444 | 32–22 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 56 | 7:00p.m. CST | @ Dallas | L 110–118 | Olajuwon,Short (22) | Olajuwon (12) | Leavell,Reid (7) | Reunion Arena17,007 | 33–23 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 64 | 9:30p.m. CST | @ L.A. Lakers | L 95–117 | Carroll (16) | Olajuwon (10) | Leavell (6) | The Forum17,505 | 38–26 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 68 | 6:30p.m. CST | @ Boston | L 110–117 | Johnson (18) | McCray (10) | Floyd,Short (5) | Boston Garden14,890 | 40–28
|- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 72 | 7:30p.m. CDT | Utah | W 113–107 | Olajuwon (22) | Olajuwon (15) | Olajuwon (6) | The Summit16,611 | 42–30 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 78 | 12Noon CDT | L.A. Lakers | W 127–119 | Olajuwon (38) | Carroll (10) | Floyd (9) | The Summit16,611 | 45–33 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 79 | 7:30p.m. CDT | Dallas | L 96–104 | Olajuwon (33) | Olajuwon (9) | Floyd (8) | The Summit16,611 | 45–34 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 81 | 8:30p.m. CDT | @ Utah | L 107–125 | Carroll (24) | Olajuwon (12) | Floyd (7) | Salt Palace12,444 | 45–36
Playoffs
|- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 1 | 7:30p.m. CDT | @ Dallas | L 110–120 | Olajuwon (34) | Olajuwon (14) | Floyd (11) | Reunion Arena17,007 | 0–1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 2 | 2:30p.m. CDT | @ Dallas | W 119–108 | Floyd (42) | Olajuwon (26) | Floyd (9) | Reunion Arena17,007 | 1–1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 3 | 7:30p.m. CDT | Dallas | L 92–93 | Olajuwon (35) | Olajuwon (12) | Floyd (5) | The Summit16,611 | 1–2 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 4 | 7:00p.m. CDT | Dallas | L 97–107 | Olajuwon (40) | Olajuwon (15) | Floyd (9) | The Summit16,611 | 1–3
Player statistics
Season Player GP GS MPG FG% 3FG% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
Playoffs Player GP GS MPG FG% 3FG% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
Awards and records Akeem Olajuwon, All-NBA First Team Akeem Olajuwon, NBA All-Defensive First Team Rodney McCray, NBA All-Defensive First Team
References