Houston Rockets: Some of the great seasons in franchise history
The “Disappointing Great Seasons” of the 21st Century
After the heyday of the ’90s, the Houston Rockets went through a period of seasons that went
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from good to bad. The 2001-02 season was a low point between the Hakeem Olajuwon era and the Yao Ming era.
In 2004-05 the Rockets seemed to be on the upward swing led by Yao and Tracy McGrady. That year they won 51 but could only manage the five seed in the west. Houston faced Dallas in the first round. The series went seven games before Mark Cuban and his boys eliminated Houston.
Two years later the Rockets were back to 50 wins but because the west was so good once again the best they could manage was the five seed. Their opponent was the Utah Jazz. Once again the series went seven games and the Rockets were bounced out of the playoffs.
A year later the Rockets went 55-27 which was good for third place in the Southwest division and fifth in the western conference. Even with the 22-game winning streak that year the Rockets were just a middle-of-the-pack team out west. Houston’s hopes of a long playoff run were dashed by Utah in seven games once again.
In 2013-14 the Rockets went 54-28 and made the playoffs as the four seed. That was the first year of Dwight Howard in Houston. It was another first round exit, this time against Portland.