Summary
The defending champion Houston Rockets had a difficult season, winning only 47 games and finishing third in the Midwest Division. The two winningest teams in the NBA were both in that division: San Antonio, with a 62-20 record, and Utah, at 60-22. The Orlando Magic was the top team in the Eastern Conference with 57 wins.
There were two major news stories during the season. In February, the Rockets traded Otis Thorpe to Portland for Clyde Drexler to improve their running game. The following month, Michael Jordan suddenly returned to the Chicago Bulls after an unsuccessful attempt at professional baseball.
Although Thorpe had been an important player for Houston's championship team, they became a better team down the stretch with Drexler. And the Bulls were also a better team with Jordan, even though he was obviously rusty after nearly two years away from basketball.
The Bulls got through the first round of the playoffs, but were eliminated by Orlando in six games in the semi-finals, while the Indiana Pacers beat the New York Knicks in a seven-game series. Orlando then beat the Pacers, also in seven games, to advance to the championship round.
In the West, San Antonio swept the Denver Nuggets and beat the Lakers in six games. The revamped Rockets, facing elimination, won two games at Utah to beat the Jazz. Then, after falling behind 3-1 to the Trail Blazers, they won three straight, the last two of them at Phoenix, to set up an all-Texas conference final.
After the 115-114 win in Game 7 against Phoenix, Houston's Akeem Olajuwon announced, "This is a team of destiny." He was proven right. After winning the first two games at San Antonio, the Rockets lost two at home, But then they won at San Antonio again and took Game 6 at home to win the series.
In the first game of the final series, at Orlando, the Magic took a 20-point lead but the Rockets came back to force overtime, mainly because of Kenny Smith's seven 3-point field goals. Houston won that one by 2 points and followed it up with three relatively easy victories.
The Rockets were the first team to win the NBA championship without having homecourt advantage in a single series.
