1979–80 Houston Rockets season

In the playoffs, the Rockets defeated the San Antonio Spurs in three games in the First Round, before being swept by the Boston Celtics in four games in the Semifinals.

Offseason

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Draft picks

Main article: 1979 NBA draft

Round	Pick	Player	Nationality	College/Club team
1	17	Lee Johnson	United States	East Texas State
2	42	Paul Mokeski	United States	Kansas
3	59	Ricardo Brown	United States	Pepperdine
4	76	Sam Drummer	United States	Georgia Tech
4	80	Lionel Green	United States	LSU
5	104	Allen Leavell	United States	Oklahoma City
6	124	Collie Davis	United States	Southern
7	143	Rich Valavicius	United States	Auburn
8	161	Delbert Watson	United States	East Tennessee State

Roster

1979–80 Houston Rockets roster

Players

Coaches

Pos.	No.	Name	Height	Weight	From
F	4	Barry, Rick	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	Miami (FL)
F	22	Bradley, Alonzo	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	Texas Southern
G	10	Dunleavy, Mike	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	South Carolina
G	6	Henderson, Tom	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	Hawaiʻi
F	11	Jones, Major	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	Albany State
G	30	Leavell, Allen	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	Oklahoma City
C	24	Malone, Moses	6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)	235 lb (107 kg)	Petersburg High School
C	54	Mokeski, Paul	7 ft 0 in (2.13 m)	250 lb (113 kg)	Kansas
G	23	Murphy, Calvin	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)	165 lb (75 kg)	Niagara
C	5	Paultz, Billy	6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)	235 lb (107 kg)	St. John's
F	50	Reid, Robert	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	Saint Mary's
F	45	Tomjanovich, Rudy	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	218 lb (99 kg)	Michigan

Head coach

Del Harris

Assistant coach(es)

Scotty Robertson

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-Atlanta Hawks	50	32	.610	–	32–9	18–23	21–9
x-Houston Rockets	41	41	.500	9	29–12	12–29	20–10
x-San Antonio Spurs	41	41	.500	9	27–14	14–27	14–16
Cleveland Cavaliers	37	45	.451	13	28–13	9–32	16–14
Indiana Pacers	37	45	.451	13	26–15	11–30	15–15
Detroit Pistons	16	66	.195	34	13–28	3–38	4–26

#	Eastern Conference v t e
#	Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1	z-Boston Celtics	61	21	.744	–
2	y-Atlanta Hawks	50	32	.610	11
3	x-Philadelphia 76ers	59	23	.720	2
4	x-Houston Rockets	41	41	.500	20
5	x-San Antonio Spurs	41	41	.500	20
6	x-Washington Bullets	39	43	.476	22

7	New York Knicks	39	43	.476	22
8	Cleveland Cavaliers	37	45	.451	24
8	Indiana Pacers	37	45	.451	24
10	New Jersey Nets	34	48	.415	27
11	Detroit Pistons	16	66	.195	44

z – clinched division title

y – clinched division title

x – clinched playoff spot

Record vs. opponents

1979-80 NBA Records
Team	ATL	BOS	CHI	CLE	DEN	DET	GSW	HOU	IND	KCK	LAL	MIL	NJN	NYK	PHI	PHO	POR	SAS	SDC	SEA	UTA	WAS
Atlanta	—	2–4	1–1	4–2	1–1	6–0	2–0	2–4	4–2	0–2	1–1	1–1	4–2	4–2	4–2	1–1	2–0	5–1	1–1	0–2	2–0	3–3
Boston	4–2	—	2–0	4–2	2–0	6–0	2–0	6–0	4–2	1–1	0–2	2–0	5–1	5–1	3–3	1–1	2–0	4–2	2–0	0–2	2–0	4–2
Chicago	1–1	0–2	—	2–0	2–4	1–1	4–2	1–1	0–2	3–3	1–5	1–5	1–1	0–2	1–1	1–5	3–3	0–2	4–2	2–4	2–4	0–2
Cleveland	2–4	2–4	0–2	—	1–1	6–0	2–0	2–4	2–4	2–0	1–1	0–2	3–3	3–3	1–5	1–1	0–2	4–2	1–1	0–2	1–1	3–3
Denver	1–1	0–2	4–2	1–1	—	1–1	3–3	1–1	1–1	0–6	1–5	3–3	1–1	1–1	0–2	1–5	2–4	1–1	3–3	1–5	3–3	1–1
Detroit	0–6	0–6	1–1	0–6	1–1	—	1–1	1–5	1–5	0–2	0–2	1–1	2–4	2–4	1–5	0–2	0–2	2–4	0–2	0–2	1–1	2–4
Golden State	0–2	0–2	2–4	0–2	3–3	1–1	—	1–1	1–1	3–3	1–5	0–6	2–0	0–2	0–2	2–4	2–4	0–2	3–3	0–6	3–3	0–2
Houston	4–2	0–6	1–1	4–2	1–1	5–1	1–1	—	4–2	0–2	0–2	1–1	3–3	3–3	2–4	1–1	1–1	3–3	2–0	1–1	2–0	2–4
Indiana	2–4	2–4	2–0	4–2	1–1	5–1	1–1	2–4	—	1–1	0–2	0–2	2–4	4–2	1–5	0–2	2–0	2–4	1–1	0–2	1–1	4–2
Kansas City	2–0	1–1	3–3	0–2	6–0	2–0	3–3	2–0	1–1	—	2–4	3–3	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–5	1–5	1–1	5–1	3–3	6–0	2–0
Los Angeles	1–1	2–0	5–1	1–1	5–1	2–0	5–1	2–0	2–0	4–2	—	3–3	2–0	2–0	1–1	3–3	2–4	2–0	5–1	4–2	6–0	1–1
Milwaukee	1–1	0–2	5–1	2–0	3–3	1–1	6–0	1–1	2–0	3–3	3–3	—	1–1	1–1	0–2	4–2	5–1	0–2	4–2	2–4	4–2	1–1
New Jersey	2–4	1–5	1–1	3–3	1–1	4–2	0–2	3–3	4–2	1–1	0–2	1–1	—	2–4	1–5	1–1	0–2	3–3	1–1	1–1	1–1	3–3
New York	2–4	1–5	2–0	3–3	1–1	4–2	2–0	3–3	2–4	1–1	0–2	1–1	4–2	—	0–6	2–0	2–0	4–2	1–1	0–2	1–1	3–3
Philadelphia	2–4	3–3	1–1	5–1	2–0	5–1	2–0	4–2	5–1	1–1	1–1	2–0	5–1	6–0	—	1–1	2–0	4–2	1–1	1–1	1–1	5–1
Phoenix	1–1	1–1	5–1	1–1	5–1	2–0	4–2	1–1	2–0	5–1	3–3	2–4	1–1	0–2	1–1	—	6–0	1–1	2–4	4–2	6–0	2–0
Portland	0–2	0–2	3–3	2–0	4–2	2–0	4–2	1–1	0–2	5–1	4–2	1–5	2–0	0–2	0–2	0–6	—	1–1	4–2	1–5	3–3	1–1
San Antonio	1–5	2–4	2–0	2–4	1–1	4–2	2–0	3–3	4–2	1–1	0–2	2–0	3–3	2–4	2–4	1–1	1–1	—	2–0	1–1	1–1	4–2
San Diego	1–1	0–2	2–4	1–1	3–3	2–0	3–3	0–2	1–1	1–5	1–5	2–4	1–1	1–1	1–1	4–2	2–4	0–2	—	3–3	5–1	1–1
Seattle	2–0	2–0	4–2	2–0	5–1	2–0	6–0	1–1	2–0	3–3	2–4	4–2	1–1	2–0	1–1	2–4	5–1	1–1	3–3	—	5–1	1–1
Utah	0–2	0–2	4–2	1–1	3–3	1–1	3–3	0–2	1–1	0–6	0–6	2–4	1–1	1–1	1–1	0–6	3–3	1–1	1–5	1–5	—	0–2
Washington	3–3	2–4	2–0	3–3	1–1	4–2	2–0	4–2	2–4	0–2	1–1	1–1	3–3	3–3	1–5	0–2	1–1	2–4	1–1	1–1	2–0	—

Game log

Regular season

1979–80 game log
Total: 41–41 (home: 29–12; road: 12–29)

October: 2–7 (home: 2–1; road: 0–6)

Game	Date	Team	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location Attendance	Record
1	October 12, 1979	@ Boston	L 106–114				Boston Garden	0–1
2	October 13, 1979 7:05 p.m. CDT	@ Philadelphia	L 105–113	Malone (20)	Jones (10)	Dunleavy (8)	The Spectrum 13,503	0–2
3	October 16, 1979	@ New York	L 121–126				Madison Square Garden	0–3
4	October 17, 1979	Indiana	W 116–112				The Summit	1–3
5	October 20, 1979	Atlanta	W 107–102				The Summit	2–3
6	October 24, 1979	Boston	L 99–100				The Summit	2–4
7	October 28, 1979	@ New Jersey	L 115–120				Rutgers Athletic Center	2–5
8	October 30, 1979	@ Cleveland	L 112–124				Richfield Coliseum	2–6
9	October 31, 1979	@ Indiana	L 129–133 (OT)				Market Square Arena	2–7

November: 10–4 (home: 7–1; road: 3–3)

Game	Date	Team	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location Attendance	Record
10	November 3, 1979	@ Detroit	W 114–111				Pontiac Silverdome	3–7
11	November 7, 1979	New Jersey	W 106–101				The Summit	4–7
12	November 10, 1979	Detroit	W 112–104				The Summit	5–7
13	November 13, 1979	@ Chicago	W 128–127				Chicago Stadium	6–7
14	November 14, 1979	Golden State	W 133–92				The Summit	7–7
15	November 16, 1979	New York	W 133–130				The Summit	8–7
16	November 17, 1979	@ Atlanta	W 102–100				The Omni	9–7
17	November 20, 1979	@ New York	L 125–130 (OT)				Madison Square Garden	9–8
18	November 21, 1979 8:05 p.m. CST	Philadelphia	W 97–94	Murphy (26)	Malone (17)	Henderson, Leavell (4)	The Summit 15,203	10–8
19	November 23, 1979 7:05 p.m. CST	@ Philadelphia	L 102–113	Malone (17)	Malone (11)	Reid (6)	The Spectrum 12,608	10–9
20	November 24, 1979	Washington	L 103–105				The Summit	10–10
21	November 27, 1979	@ Kansas City	L 115–117				Municipal Auditorium	10–11
22	November 28, 1979	Cleveland	W 113–111 (OT)				The Summit	11–11
23	November 30, 1979	Atlanta	W 106–95				The Summit	12–11

December: 5–9 (home: 4–2; road: 1–7)

Game	Date	Team	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location Attendance	Record
24	December 1, 1979	Portland	W 120–112 (OT)				The Summit	13–11
25	December 5, 1979 8:05 p.m. CST	Los Angeles	L 114–116	Malone (32)	Malone (15)	Barry (8)	The Summit 15,676	13–12
26	December 7, 1979	Detroit	W 124–109				The Summit	14–12
27	December 8, 1979	@ San Antonio	L 129–138				HemisFair Arena	14–13
28	December 12, 1979	@ San Diego	W 118–107				San Diego Sports Arena	15–13
29	December 13, 1979	@ Phoenix	L 113–121				Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum	15–14
30	December 14, 1979	@ Seattle	L 101–109				Kingdome	15–15
31	December 16, 1979	@ Portland	L 101–123				Memorial Coliseum	15–16
32	December 19, 1979	Chicago	L 102–108				The Summit	15–17
33	December 21, 1979<r>7:05 p.m. CST	@ Philadelphia	L 106–117	Murphy (37)	Malone (12)	Henderson (8)	The Spectrum 6,649	15–18
34	December 22, 1979	@ Washington	L 114–122				Capital Centre	15–19
35	December 26, 1979	San Antonio	W 143–110				The Summit	16–19
36	December 27, 1979	@ Atlanta	L 110–112				The Omni	16–20
37	December 29, 1979 8:05 p.m. CST	Philadelphia	W 104–100	Murphy (33)	Malone (17)	Henderson (9)	The Summit 14,635	17–20

January: 8–8 (home: 6–4; road: 2–4)

Game	Date	Team	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location Attendance	Record
38	January 2, 1980	Boston	L 103–111				The Summit	17–21
39	January 4, 1980	@ New Jersey	L 101–104				Rutgers Athletic Center	17–22
40	January 5, 1980	Phoenix	W 111–110				The Summit	18–22
41	January 8, 1980	@ Cleveland	W 118–115 (OT)				Richfield Coliseum	19–22
42	January 9, 1980	Denver	W 114–112				The Summit	20–22
43	January 12, 1980	Cleveland	W 112–96				The Summit	21–22
44	January 13, 1980	@ Milwaukee	W 121–117				MECCA Arena	22–22
45	January 16, 1980	New Jersey	L 112–122				The Summit	22–23
46	January 18, 1980	Washington	W 134–111				The Summit	22–24
47	January 19, 1980	@ Detroit	L 110–122				Pontiac Silverdome	22–25
48	January 22, 1980	@ Boston	L 106–112				Boston Garden	23–25
49	January 23, 1980	San Diego	W 111–110 (2OT)				The Summit	24–25
50	January 26, 1980	Seattle	W 123–111				The Summit	25–25
51	January 29, 1980	@ Indiana	L 112–133				Market Square Arena	25–26
52	January 30, 1980	San Antonio	L 111–118				The Summit	25–27
53	January 31, 1980 8:05 p.m. CST	Philadelphia	L 105–110	Malone (36)	Malone (19)	Henderson (6)	The Summit 12,539	25–28

February: 8–5 (home: 6–1; road: 2–4)

Game	Date	Team	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location Attendance	Record
All-Star Break
54	February 6, 1980	New Jersey	W 115–114				The Summit	26–28
55	February 8, 1980	Cleveland	W 105–104				The Summit	27–28
56	February 9, 1980	Utah	W 117–95				The Summit	28–28
57	February 12, 1980	@ San Antonio	W 120–118				HemisFair Arena	29–28
58	February 13, 1980	New York	W 122–117				The Summit	30–28
59	February 15, 1980	Milwaukee	L 103–114				The Summit	30–29
60	February 17, 1980	@ Denver	L 99–112				McNichols Sports Arena	30–30
61	February 20, 1980	@ Golden State	L 102–115				Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Arena	30–31
62	February 22, 1980	@ Utah	W 94–82				Salt Palace	31–31
63	February 24, 1980 4:00 p.m. CST	@ Los Angeles	L 100–112	Malone (29)	Malone (17)	Paultz (6)	The Forum 15,889	31–32
64	February 26, 1980	Indiana	W 93–88				The Summit	32–32
65	February 27, 1980	Washington	W 110–97				The Summit	33–32
66	February 28, 1980	@ Washington	L 99–105				Capital Centre	33–33

March: 8–8 (home: 4–3; road: 4–5)

Game	Date	Team	Score	Location Attendance	Record
67	March 2, 1980	Kansas City	L 91–94	The Summit	34–33
68	March 4, 1980	@ Atlanta	W 93–83	The Omni	34–34
69	March 5, 1980	Boston	L 99–103 (OT)	The Summit	34–35
70	March 7, 1980	@ New Jersey	W 111–110 (2OT)	Rutgers Athletic Center	35–35
71	March 8, 1980	Atlanta	L 79–97	The Summit	35–36
72	March 11, 1980	@ New York	L 109–129	Madison Square Garden	35–37
73	March 12, 1980	@ Boston	L 105–121	Boston Garden	35–38
74	March 14, 1980	@ Washington	L 85–92	Capital Centre	35–39
75	March 16, 1980	@ Detroit	W 102–99	Pontiac Silverdome	36–39
76	March 19, 1980	New York	W 139–113	The Summit	37–39
77	March 20, 1980	@ Cleveland	L 96–109	Richfield Coliseum	37–40
78	March 22, 1980	Indiana	W 125–110	The Summit	39–39
79	March 25, 1980	@ San Antonio	L 107–126	HemisFair Arena	38–41
80	March 26, 1980	San Antonio	W 113–101	The Summit	39–41
81	March 28, 1980	Detroit	W 128–112	The Summit	40–41
82	March 30, 1980	@ Indiana	W 121–106	Market Square Arena	41–41

1979–80 schedule

Playoffs

1980 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 2, 1980	San Antonio	W 95–85	Calvin Murphy (28)	Moses Malone (14)	Tom Henderson (8)	The Summit 14,454	1–0
2	April 4, 1980	@ San Antonio	L 101–106	Moses Malone (34)	Moses Malone (19)	Tom Henderson (10)	HemisFair Arena 12,894	1–1
3	April 6, 1980	San Antonio	W 141–120	Moses Malone (37)	Moses Malone (20)	Tom Henderson (10)	The Summit 15,676	2–1

Conference semifinals: 0–4 (home: 0–2; road: 0–2)

Game	Date	Team	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location Attendance	Series
1	April 9, 1980	@ Boston	L 101–119	Moses Malone (27)	Moses Malone (13)	three players tied (4)	Boston Garden 15,320	0–1
2	April 11, 1980	@ Boston	L 75–95	Robert Reid (22)	Robert Reid (14)	Robert Reid (4)	Boston Garden 15,320	0–2
3	April 13, 1980	Boston	L 81–100	Moses Malone (28)	Moses Malone (9)	Henderson, Leavell (5)	The Summit 14,243	0–3
4	April 14, 1980	Boston	L 121–138	Moses Malone (28)	Moses Malone (15)	Reid, Leavell (8)	The Summit 13,106	0–4

1980 schedule

Player statistics

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game

Season

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG

Playoffs

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG

Awards and records

Moses Malone, All-NBA Second Team

Transactions

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References

1979-80 Houston Rockets

v t e Houston Rockets
Founded in 1967 Played in San Diego (1967–1971) Based in Houston, Texas
Franchise	History All-time roster Draft history 1967 Records Head coaches Seasons Current season
Arenas	Pechanga Arena Hofheinz Pavilion Astrodome HemisFair Arena The Summit/Compaq Center Toyota Center
Personnel	Owner(s) Tilman Fertitta President Gretchen Sheirr General manager Rafael Stone Head coach Ime Udoka
G League affiliate	Rio Grande Valley Vipers
Retired numbers	11 22 23 24 34 44 45
NBA championships	1994 1995
Rivalries	Dallas Mavericks San Antonio Spurs Utah Jazz
Culture and lore	Red Rowdies ClutchFans Clutch City Clutch the Rockets Bear Dancing Barry The Kiss of Death The Dream Shake 13 points in 35 seconds 22 wins in a row The Year of the Yao June 17th, 1994 27 consecutive 3-pointers missed

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