1994 NBA Finals

The 1994 NBA Finals was the championship round of the 1993-1994 NBA season.

In the Finals, the New York Knicks would play seven low-scoring, defensive games against the Houston Rockets. After splitting the first two games in Houston, the Knicks would win two out of three games at Madison Square Garden. In Game 6, however, Rockets center Hakeem Olajuwon deflected a last-second attempt at a game-winner by John Starks, giving the Rockets an 86-84 victory and forcing a Game 7. The Rockets beat the Knicks in Game 7, 90-84, enabling the city of Houston to celebrate its first championship in any professional sport.

Series Summary

Game	Date	Home Team	Result	Road Team
Game 1	June 8	Houston	85-78	New York
Game 2	June 10	Houston	91-83	New York
Game 3	June 12	New York	93-89	Houston
Game 4	June 15	New York	91-82	Houston
Game 5	June 17	New York	91-84	Houston
Game 6	June 19	Houston	86-84	New York
Game 7	June 22	Houston	90-84	New York

Rockets win series 4-3

Trivia

A scene from the 1994 NBA Finals was used in the cover of NBA Live 95.

*A scene from the finals was used as a cover for NBA Live 95, a video game published by EA Sports.
*During Game 5 (June 17, 1994) most NBC affiliates (with the noted exception being WNBC-TV out of New York) split the coverage of the game between NFL Hall of Famer O.J. Simpson's low speed freeway chase with the LAPD. A visibly confused and distraught Bob Costas (NBC's anchor for their NBA Finals coverage) said during the telecast from Madison Square Garden that the Simpson situation was "not just tragic but now surreal."
*This was the first NBA Finals in which the Larry O'Brien Championship Trophy was presented on the court instead of in the victors' locker room.
*During the 2006 NBA Finals, Pat Riley admitted publicly for the first time, that sitting Rolando Blackman in favor of John Starks during Games 6 and 7 of the 1994 NBA Finals was the biggest coaching mistake in his career and that he has never forgiven himself for it.