Houston Rockets Tickets

The Houston Rockets started as the San Diego Rockets and joined the NBA as an expansion team in 1967-68, and they spent four seasons in the league prior to their relocation to Texas.

Texas Bound

Texas Sports Instruments bought out the franchise and moved the team to Houston ahead of the 1971-72, and they began life as the Houston Rockets.

Under head coach Tom Nissalke the team finished first in the Central Division but lost out to the Philadelphia 76ers in the Conference Finals in 1976-77.

Bumped by Boston and the Bird

In 1980-81, under Del Harris, the team got to their first NBA Finals but lost out to the Boston Celtics in six games. In 1985-86 they did so again, with Larry Bird doing the majority of the damage on this occasion.

It was during the hugely successful opening seasons of Rudy Tomjanovich's lengthy reign as head coach that the Houston Rockets started to taste tangible success.

Hakeem on a High

Hakeem Olajuwon put in awesome displays during back-to-back NBA Finals wins in 1993-94 and 1994-95 against the New York Knicks and Orlando Magic, respectively, with the first Championship being a seven-game thriller and the second being a 4-0 beatdown.

Four successive playoff finishes followed those triumphs before the Tomjanovich reign petered out poorly.

Underperforming

Though the team had two stars in the form of Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady, among others, the team didn't achieve much in the early 2000s, but under Kevin McHale, there were signs of improvement.

Playoff Heartache

Mike D'Antoni led the team to the top of the Southwest for three successive seasons, but inevitable playoff heartache followed at the hands of the Golden State Warriors on two occasions and the Los Angeles Lakers.

A New Low

Most recently, with head coach Stephen Silas leading the ship, things have proven pretty disastrous with win totals of 17 and 20 in 2020/21 and 2021/22, seriously stretching the patience of those who watch the Houston Rockets play.

They continue to struggle to make an impact in the Western Conference, a title they have won on four occasions, albeit the last being way back in 1995.

Toyota Center Guide

The Houston Rockets play their home games at the Toyota Center, where they moved in 2003-04.

The venue has a seating capacity of 18,104 and also hosts WNBA events which used to be shared by Houston Aeros of the AHL.