1974–75 Houston Rockets season

The 1974–75 NBA season was the Rockets' 8th season in the NBA and 4th season in the city of Houston as well as their final season at the Hofheinz Pavilion before moving to The Summit a season later.

In the playoffs, the Rockets defeated the New York Knicks in five games in the First Round, before losing to the Boston Celtics in five games in the Semifinals.

Offseason

Draft picks

Main article: 1974 NBA draft

Roster

Houston Rockets roster

Players

Coaches

Pos.	No.	Name	Height	Weight	From
F	35	Abdul-Aziz, Zaid	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	235 lb (107 kg)	Iowa State
C	10	Hawes, Steve	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	Washington
C	20	Kunnert, Kevin	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	230 lb (104 kg)	Iowa
G	23	Murphy, Calvin	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)	165 lb (75 kg)	Niagara
G	14	Newlin, Mike	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	Utah
F	42	Ratleff, Ed	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	Long Beach State
F	31	Riley, Ron	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	USC
F	45	Tomjanovich, Rudy	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	218 lb (99 kg)	Michigan
F	30	Wells, Owen	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	Detroit Mercy
G	11	Wohl, Dave	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Penn

Head coach

Johnny Egan

Assistant coach(es)

Larry Siegfried

Legend

(DP) Unsigned draft pick
(FA) Free agent
(S) Suspended
Injured

Regular season

Season standings

Central Division v t e	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Div
y-Washington Bullets	60	22	.732	–	36–5	24–17	22–8
x-Houston Rockets	41	41	.500	19	29–12	12–29	16–14
Cleveland Cavaliers	40	42	.488	20	29–12	11–30	17–13
Atlanta Hawks	31	51	.378	29	22–19	9–32	11–19
New Orleans Jazz	23	59	.280	37	20–21	3–38	9–21

#	Eastern Conference v t e
#	Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1	z-Boston Celtics	60	22	.732	–
2	y-Washington Bullets	60	22	.732	–
3	x-Buffalo Braves	49	33	.598	11
4	x-Houston Rockets	41	41	.500	19
5	x-New York Knicks	40	42	.488	20

6	Cleveland Cavaliers	40	42	.488	20
7	Philadelphia 76ers	34	48	.415	26
8	Atlanta Hawks	31	51	.378	29
9	New Orleans Jazz	23	59	.280	37

z – clinched division title

y – clinched division title

x – clinched playoff spot

Record vs. opponents

1974–75 NBA Records
Team	ATL	BOS	BUF	CHI	CLE	DET	GSW	HOU	KCO	LAL	MIL	NOJ	NYK	PHI	PHO	POR	SEA	WAS
Atlanta	—	0–4	1–3	0–4	3–4	2–2	1–3	2–5	2–2	2–2	2–2	3–5	0–4	2–2	4–0	1–3	3–1	3–5
Boston	4–0	—	5–4	3–1	3–1	3–1	1–3	4–0	2–2	4–0	4–0	4–0	7–2	5–3	3–1	4–0	2–2	2–2
Buffalo	3–1	4–5	—	1–3	3–1	2–2	3–1	2–2	1–3	4–0	1–3	4–0	5–3	6–3	3–1	2–2	3–1	2–2
Chicago	4–0	1–3	3–1	—	2–2	4–5	3–1	2–2	4–5	3–1	3–5	4–0	3–1	2–2	2–2	2–2	4–0	1–3
Cleveland	4–3	1–3	1–3	2–2	—	2–2	2–2	4–4	2–2	2–2	1–3	6–1	1–3	3–1	2–2	2–2	2–2	3–5
Detroit	2–2	1–3	2–2	5–4	2–2	—	1–3	2–2	2–6	3–1	3–6	4–0	2–2	3–1	2–2	3–1	2–2	1–3
Golden State	3–1	3–1	1–3	1–3	2–2	3–1	—	2–2	2–2	5–2	3–1	2–2	3–1	3–1	5–3	5–3	4–3	1–3
Houston	5–2	0–4	2–2	2–2	4–4	2–2	2–2	—	4–0	2–2	3–1	5–3	1–3	2–2	2–2	2–2	1–3	2–5
Kansas City-Omaha	2–2	2–2	3–1	5–4	2–2	6–2	2–2	0–4	—	3–1	6–3	2–2	2–2	1–3	3–1	3–1	1–3	1–3
Los Angeles	2–2	0–4	0–4	1–3	2–2	1–3	2–5	2–2	1–3	—	4–0	3–1	0–4	3–1	4–4	2–5	2–6	1–3
Milwaukee	2–2	0–4	3–1	5–3	3–1	6–3	1–3	1–3	3–6	0–4	—	3–1	3–1	3–1	2–2	2–2	1–3	0–4
New Orleans	5–3	0–4	0–4	0–4	1–6	0–4	2–2	3–5	2–2	1–3	1–3	—	2–2	2–2	1–3	2–2	1–3	0–7
New York	4–0	2–7	3–5	1–3	3–1	2–2	1–3	3–1	2–2	4–0	1–3	2–2	—	4–5	3–1	2–2	2–2	1–3
Philadelphia	2–2	3–5	3–6	2–2	1–3	1–3	1–3	2–2	3–1	1–3	1–3	2–2	5–4	—	2–2	2–2	2–2	1–3
Phoenix	0–4	1–3	1–3	2–2	2–2	2–2	3–5	2–2	1–3	4–4	2–2	3–1	1–3	2–2	—	1–6	4–3	1–3
Portland	3–1	0–4	2–2	2–2	2–2	1–3	3–5	2–2	1–3	5–2	2–2	2–2	2–2	2–2	6–1	—	2–6	1–3
Seattle	1–3	2–2	1–3	0–4	2–2	2–2	3–4	3–1	3–1	6–2	3–1	3–1	2–2	2–2	3–4	6–2	—	1–3
Washington	5–3	2–2	2–2	3–1	5–3	3–1	3–1	5–2	3–1	3–1	4–0	7–0	3–1	3–1	3–1	3–1	3–1	—

Playoffs

1975 playoff game log

First Round: 2–1 (home: 2–0; road: 0–1)

Game	Date	Team	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location Attendance	Series
1	April 8	New York	W 99–84	Calvin Murphy (22)	Kevin Kunnert (14)	Mike Newlin (5)	Hofheinz Pavilion 10,218	1–0
2	April 10	@ New York	L 96–106	Rudy Tomjanovich (22)	Kevin Kunnert (9)	Newlin, Ratleff (4)	Madison Square Garden 19,694	1–1
3	April 12	New York	W 118–86	Rudy Tomjanovich (25)	Rudy Tomjanovich (10)	Murphy, Newlin (9)	Hofheinz Pavilion 10,218	2–1

Conference semifinals: 1–4 (home: 1–1; road: 0–3)

Game	Date	Team	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location Attendance	Series
1	April 14	@ Boston	L 106–123	Rudy Tomjanovich (30)	Tomjanovich, Riley (9)	Calvin Murphy (6)	Boston Garden 15,320	0–1
2	April 16	@ Boston	L 100–112	Calvin Murphy (30)	Kevin Kunnert (10)	Calvin Murphy (9)	Boston Garden 13,254	0–2
3	April 19	Boston	W 117–102	Rudy Tomjanovich (28)	Rudy Tomjanovich (12)	Murphy, Hawes (7)	Hofheinz Pavilion 10,218	1–2
4	April 22	Boston	L 117–122	Calvin Murphy (35)	Tomjanovich, Ratleff (11)	Mike Newlin (6)	Hofheinz Pavilion 10,218	1–3
5	April 24	@ Boston	L 115–128	Tomjanovich, Murphy (27)	Ed Ratleff (6)	Ed Ratleff (6)	Boston Garden 15,320	1–4