1996–97 Houston Rockets season
The 1996–97 NBA season was the Rockets' 30th season in the National Basketball Association, and 26th season in Houston. During the off-season, the Rockets acquired All-Star forward Charles Barkley from the Phoenix Suns, and signed free agents Kevin Willis, Brent Price, undrafted rookie guard Matt Maloney and re-signed three-point specialist Matt Bullard, who was a member of the championship team from the 1994 NBA Finals. The Rockets began the season with a 21–2 start, but later on struggled posting a six-game losing streak between January and February. Barkley averaged 19.2 points  and 13.5 rebounds per game, but appeared in just 53 games due to ankle and hip injuries. At midseason, the Rockets signed free agents Eddie Johnson and Sedale Threatt, as they won 14 of their final 17 games, finishing second in the Midwest Division with a 57–25 record. Barkley, Hakeem Olajuwon, Clyde Drexler and head coach Rudy Tomjanovich all represented the Western Conference during the 1997 NBA All-Star Game. However, Barkley and Drexler did not play due to injuries. Olajuwon averaged 23.2 points, 9.2 rebounds and 2.2 blocks per game, and was named to the All-NBA First Team , NBA All-Defensive Second Team, and finished in seventh place in Most Valuable Player voting, while Drexler averaged 18.0 points, 6.0 rebounds, 5.7 assists and 1.9 steals per game. In addition, Mario Elie contributed 11.7 points per game, while Willis provided the team with 11.2 points and 7.5 rebounds per game, and Maloney provided with 9.4 points per game, led the team with 154 three-point field goals, and was named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team. In the Western Conference First Round of the playoffs, the Rockets swept the Minnesota Timberwolves in three straight games. In the Western  Conference Semi-finals, they jumped out to a 3–1 series lead over the Seattle SuperSonics. However, the Sonics would win the next two games to even the series at three games a piece. The Rockets would win Game 7 and advanced to the Western Conference Finals, where they faced regular season MVP Karl Malone, John Stockton and the Utah Jazz. The Jazz won the first two games, but the Rockets would even the series at two games a piece as Johnson hit a buzzer beater to win Game 4. However, the Rockets would lose to the Jazz in six games . Following the season, Threatt retired and Sam Mack was traded to the Vancouver Grizzlies. After the departures of Barkley, Olajuwon and Drexler, the Rockets did not reach the Conference Finals again until 2015, where they were defeated by the Golden State Warriors in five games. Offseason. During the 1996 offseason, Charles Barkley was traded from the Phoenix Suns in exchange for Sam Cassell, Robert Horry, Mark Bryant, and Chucky Brown. Barkley chose Houston specifically because he hoped to win an NBA Championship with the team. Regular season. In his first game with the Houston Rockets, Charles Barkley got 33 rebounds , a career high. Player statistics. NOTE: Please write the players statistics in alphabetical order by last name. Transactions. Free agents. Subtractions. Player Transactions Citation: