1995 NBA Finals
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| Dates | June 7–14 | |||||||||
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| MVP |
Hakeem Olajuwon (Houston Rockets) |
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| Television | NBC (U.S.) | |||||||||
| Announcers | Marv Albert, Matt Guokas, and Bill Walton | |||||||||
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| Hall of Famers |
Rockets: Clyde Drexler (2004) Hakeem Olajuwon (2008) Magic: Shaquille O'Neal (2016) Officials: Dick Bavetta (2015) |
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| Eastern Finals | Magic defeat Pacers, 4–3 | |||||||||
| Western Finals | Rockets defeat Spurs, 4–2 | |||||||||
| Game 1: | Dick Bavetta, Joe Crawford, Steve Javie |
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| Game 2: | Dan Crawford, Hue Hollins, Ed T. Rush |
| Game 3: | Hugh Evans, Mike Mathis, Bennett Salvatore |
| Game 4: | Joe Crawford, Jess Kersey, Bill Oakes |
The 1995 NBA Finals was the championship round of the 1994–95 National Basketball Association (NBA) season. The series pitted the Orlando Magic against the Houston Rockets. The pre-series hype and build-up of the Finals was centered on the meeting of the two centers Shaquille O'Neal of the Magic and Hakeem Olajuwon of the Rockets. Going into the series the matchup was compared to the Bill Russell–Wilt Chamberlain matchup of the 1960s.
The Rockets became the first team in NBA history to win the championship as a sixth seed. In addition, they became the first team in NBA history to beat four 50-win teams in a single postseason en route to the championship. The Rockets would win a playoff-record nine road games in the 1995 playoffs. It was the second NBA Finals sweep in the 2-3-2 Finals format (after the Detroit Pistons did so against the Los Angeles Lakers in 1989). The Rockets also became the first repeat NBA Champion in history to keep the title with a sweep. In addition, the Rockets became the first team in NBA history to win the title without having home-court advantage in any of the four playoff rounds since the playoffs was expanded to a 16 team format in 1984. Coincidentally, this feat would also be achieved by the New Jersey Devils that same year, when they won the Stanley Cup over the Detroit Red Wings.
The Orlando Magic (making their first ever NBA Finals appearance) began the 1995 NBA Finals at home, hosting the defending champion Houston Rockets. With the Magic up by three points late in Game 1, Nick Anderson missed four consecutive free throws in the closing seconds of the game, and Kenny Smith hit a three-pointer, tying the game and sending it to overtime as well as setting a new record with the most three-pointers in an NBA Finals game with seven. The more experienced Rockets went on to win in overtime and eventually swept the Magic, winning their second consecutive NBA Championship. In achieving this, they earned the distinction of being the only team to win both championships during Michael Jordan's first retirement (although Jordan did return in the closing months of the 1994-95 season), as well as the only one outside Chicago to win multiple championships in the 1990s.
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