The Houston Rockets became the lowest seeded team to ever win the NBA Finals, winning as the sixth seed in the Western Conference. The Rockets also became the first team to defeat four opponents who had 50 or more wins en route to a title (Utah, Phoenix, San Antonio and Orlando); the only other team ever to accomplish that feat was the 2000–01 Los Angeles Lakers.
Late in the season, Michael Jordan returned to the Chicago Bulls after an attempt at a minor-league baseball career. His announcement consisted of a two-word fax: "I'm back." Because the Bulls had already retired his number 23, he returned wearing number 45. However, he changed back to 23 during the playoffs.
An era came to an end as the Boston Celtics played their final season at the historic Boston Garden.
The Portland Trail Blazers played their final season at Memorial Coliseum (renamed as the Veterans Memorial Coliseum as of 2012). They would host a preseason game at the Coliseum in 2009.
The Chicago Bulls played their first season at the United Center.
The Cleveland Cavaliers played their first season at Gund Arena (now known as Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse).
Due to extensive renovations to the Seattle Center Coliseum (renamed as KeyArena following the season), the Seattle SuperSonics played their home games at the Tacoma Dome, in nearby Tacoma, Washington.
The Orlando Magic became the first of the four late 1980s expansion franchises to reach the NBA Finals. They were swept in four games by the defending champion Houston Rockets.
Lenny Wilkens passed Red Auerbach to become the NBA's all-time leader in wins, which stood for 15 years.
Moses Malone, the only remaining active former ABA player, announced his retirement after 19 NBA seasons. Malone, who came to the professional level without any college basketball experience, retired just in time for a new generation of prep-to-pro stars like Kevin Garnett and Kobe Bryant to arrive on the scene.
In an effort to increase scoring, the NBA's competition committee voted to shorten the three-point field goal line to a uniform 22 feet around the basket beginning this season and lasting through the 1996–97 NBA season.[1]Orlando Magic forward Dennis Scott set a then-single season record for most three-pointers made with 267 during the 1995–96 NBA season (Later surpassed by Stephen Curry, who notched 402 three-pointers in the 2015–16 NBA season).[2] The NBA would revert to its original three-point field goal parameters of 23 feet, 9 inches (22 feet at the corners) at the start of the 1997–98 NBA season.[3]
Starting this season, players fouled while in the act of shooting a three-point attempt would get three free throws instead of two.[4]
Hand-checking was eliminated from the end line in the backcourt to the opposite foul line.[5]
The Western Conference Finals series between the San Antonio Spurs and Houston Rockets was notable for the lack of home team success. The home team lost each of the first 5 games of the series, with the Rockets finally breaking through with a home win in Game 6.
The Miami Heat made two blockbuster trades. The first one was 2 days before the season when Miami traded Rony Seikaly to the Golden State Warriors for Billy Owens and Sasha Danilovic. Then, 2 games into the season after a game against the Phoenix Suns, Miami traded Grant Long, Steve Smith and a 1996 1st round pick to the Atlanta Hawks for Kevin Willis and a 1996 1st round pick. The latter trade was so one-sided (Miami missed the playoffs altogether while Atlanta became a contender in the East) that it was credited with spurring the Heat to make their biggest decision in franchise history: hiring Pat Riley to be their coach and top executive.
In the last game of the regular season for both teams, the Denver Nuggets defeated the Sacramento Kings to obtain the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference. Had the Kings won, they would have qualified instead. They had missed the playoffs for nine straight seasons. As for the Nuggets, this was their final postseason appearance until 2004.
On November 5, 1994, the San Antonio Spurs first home of the season, against the Golden State Warriors, was delayed for 50 minutes as the pregame fireworks show triggered a water cannon that sent water blasting down on fans, players and coaches for four minutes before it was shut off.[6]
1994–95 NBA changes
The Atlanta Hawks added new black alternate uniforms.
The Cleveland Cavaliers changed their logo and uniforms, replacing their blue and orange colors with light blue, remained orange and black. They also moved into the Gund Arena.
The Detroit Pistons added new red alternate uniforms with side panels to their jerseys and shorts.
The Orlando Magic changed their road uniforms to blue pinstripe jerseys, while their primary black pinstripe uniforms became their alternate jerseys.
The Philadelphia 76ers changed their uniforms, adding side panels and removing stars to the jerseys and shorts.
The Phoenix Suns added new black alternate uniforms.
The Sacramento Kings changed their logo and uniforms, replacing their blue and red colors with purple and black. They also added new half black and half purple alternate uniforms.
NOTE: The Detroit Pistons finished the 1994–95 NBA season with a 28–54 win–loss record along with a .341 win percentage, and finished 29 games behind the #1 seed Orlando Magic. The Pistons also posted a 22–19 record at home, a 6–35 record on the road, and an 8–20 record against teams in the Central Division.[7]
Notes
z – Clinched home court advantage for the entire playoffs
c – Clinched home court advantage for the conference playoffs
y – Clinched division title
x – Clinched playoff spot
Playoffs
Teams in bold advanced to the next round. The numbers to the left of each team indicate the team's seeding in its conference, and the numbers to the right indicate the number of games the team won in that round. The division champions are marked by an asterisk. Home court advantage does not necessarily belong to the higher-seeded team, but instead the team with the better regular season record; teams enjoying the home advantage are shown in italics.