Editing Houston Rockets (section)

====1984–1987: The "Twin Towers"====
[[File:Hakeemsigningautocropped.jpg|thumb|Hakeem Olajuwon won Finals MVP for both of the Houston Rockets' championship seasons in 1994 and 1995]]
In [[1984–85 NBA season|his first season]], Olajuwon finished second to [[Michael Jordan]] in NBA Rookie of the Year balloting,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nba.com/history/players/olajuwon_bio.html|title=NBA.com: Hakeem Olajuwon Player Info |work=NBA.com |access-date=February 18, 2009}}</ref> and the Rockets record improved by 19 games, good enough for a return to the playoffs as the third best team in the West, where they were upset by the sixth-seeded [[Utah Jazz]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/HOU/1985.html |title=1984–85 Houston Rockets Roster and Statistics |publisher=Basketball-Reference.com |access-date=February 18, 2009}}</ref> The duo of Olajuwon and Sampson earned much praise, and was nicknamed "Twin Towers".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nba.com/rockets/history/history.html#13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071229020548/http://www.nba.com/rockets/history/history.html |archive-date=December 29, 2007 |title=Rockets History&nbsp;– 1983–85: How Do You Stop Two 7-Footers? |work=NBA.com |access-date=February 18, 2009 |url-status=dead}}</ref> In the [[1985–86 NBA season|following season]], Houston won the Midwest Division title with a 51–31 record. The subsequent playoffs had the Rockets sweeping the [[Sacramento Kings]], having a hard-fought six-game series with [[Alex English]]'s [[Denver Nuggets]], and then facing defending champion Lakers, losing the first game but eventually managing to win the series – the only Western Playoffs defeat of the [[Showtime Lakers]] – to get to the franchise's second Finals appearance.<ref name=finals86>{{cite web|url=http://www.nba.com/rockets/history/lookingback_86finals.html|title=1986: Tough to the Finish|first=Dave|last=Winder|publisher=Houston Rockets official website|access-date=June 3, 2015}}</ref> The [[1986 NBA Finals|NBA Finals]] once again matched the Rockets up against the Celtics, a contrast to Houston's young front challenging the playoff-hardened Celtics front court of Larry Bird, [[Kevin McHale (basketball)|Kevin McHale]] and [[Robert Parish]]. The Celtics won the first two games in Boston, gave the Rockets their only home playoff defeat that season in game 4, and clinched the title as Bird scored a [[triple-double]] on Game 6.<ref name=finals86/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nba.com/history/finals/19851986.html|title=1986 NBA Finals: Boston 4, Houston 2|work=NBA.com|access-date=June 3, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120629214853/http://www.nba.com/history/finals/19851986.html|archive-date=June 29, 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref>

[[File:1987 NBA Western Conference Semifinals - Game 2 - Seattle SuperSonics at Houston Rockets 1987-05-05 (ticket).jpg|thumb|right|125px|A ticket for Game 2 of the [[1987 NBA playoffs|1987 Western Conference Semifinals]] between the Rockets and the Seattle SuperSonics]]

After the Finals, Boston coach [[K. C. Jones]] called the Rockets "the new monsters on the block" feeling they had a bright future. But the team had a poor start to the [[1986–87 NBA season|following season]], followed by nearly a decade of underachievement and failure, amidst players getting injured or suspended for cocaine usage, and during the playoffs were defeated in the second round by the Seattle SuperSonics in six games, with the final game being a double-overtime classic that saw Olajuwon notching 49 points, 25 rebounds and 6 blocks in defeat. Early in the 1987–88 season, Sampson, who had signed a new contract, was traded to the Golden State Warriors, bringing the Twin Towers era to an end just 18 months after their Finals appearance.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://grantland.com/features/an-oral-history-hakeem-olajuwon-ralph-sampson-1980s-houston-rockets/|title=The Greatest Team That Never Was|publisher=Grantland|author=Abrams, Jonathan|date=November 8, 2012|access-date=June 30, 2015}}</ref> Sampson's once-promising career was shortened due to chronic knee injuries, which forced his retirement in 1991. Jones' prophecy of a Rockets dynasty never materialized until the early 1990s.<ref>Howerton, Darryl. [http://www.nba.com/hoop/kingdom__kevin_2012_06_14.html "Budding Dynasty"], NBA.com, June 14, 2012.</ref>