NBA Finals Game 3 unfolding 3 decades after monumental Rockets win
Game 3 of the 2024 NBA Finals between Boston and Dallas is being played 29 years after Houston went up 3-0 in 1995.
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- The 2024 NBA Finals have been all Boston Celtics heading into their Game 3 in Dallas against the Mavericks.
Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and company have a 2-0 lead and could end Wednesday night on the brink of an 18th world championship.
As ABC13 Sports mentioned in last week's NBA Finals time capsule ahead of Game 1, the more things change, the more they stay the same.
SEE MORE: Houston did it 1st: Boston tipped off with Rockets twice in NBA Finals
Game 3 will be played 29 years after the Houston Rockets, up 2-0, claimed victory in the 1995 NBA Finals' penultimate match.
The video above shows the Rockets' uniform evolution over the years.
June 11, 1995
Hakeem Olajuwon and head coach Rudy Tomjanovich, who on Sunday, ahead of Game 2, was named the winner of the 2024 Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award, were no strangers to title-winning.
SEE PREVIOUS STORY: Former Rockets legend Rudy Tomjanovich headed to the hall of fame
The duo endured the New York Knicks in seven games to win the team's first championship a year prior.
The road was much more rigorous as the No. 6 seed out of the West. They had to come back from a 1-3 deficit against Phoenix in the conference semifinal to advance.
Knowing that the Rockets went on to sweep the Orlando Magic in 1995, the road couldn't have seemed smoother.
But after a tightly contested Game 1, where Olajuwon bucketed the game-winner from a put-back shot, Game 3 echoed the same circumstances.
With the series reverting from Florida to the Summit in Houston, the Rockets and the Magic had a back-and-forth affair on that Sunday in '95.
Houston was up by just one point at halftime, and both teams were even at 75 after three quarters.
Down to the wire
Much of the talk heading into the series surrounded the duel between superstar big men Olajuwon and Orlando's Shaquille O'Neal.
Game 3's head-to-head competition didn't disappoint. "The Dream" had game-highs with 31 points and 14 rebounds. "Shaq" wasn't too far behind with 28 points and 10 rebounds.
SEE ALSO: 10 cool facts you probably didn't know about Hakeem Olajuwon
But the highlights came in the final minute when a man who would have "Big Shot" in his name later in his career for his last-second shot-making put Houston up for good.
Holding a 101-100 lead, the Rockets' Robert Horry hit a three-pointer to pad their advantage with 14.1 seconds left.
The Rockets then got by with free-throw shooting. Clyde Drexler - Olajuwon's college teammate at the University of Houston and the Rockets' midseason blockbuster trade acquisition - made one of two free throws after an Orlando turnover and foul.
SEE ALSO: Hakeem Olajuwon remembers his Hofheinz days
At 105-100, Orlando got back a three-pointer to make things interesting with 2.7 seconds left.
Bench guard Sam Cassell then iced the game after he was fouled and made both free throws.
Houston claimed a 106-103 victory and a stranglehold on the series.
Three days later, the Rockets won their second consecutive Larry O'Brien Trophy, and Olajuwon collected back-to-back NBA Finals MVP awards.
Will the Boston Celtics match what the Rockets did 29 years later, or will Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving, and the Mavericks defend homecourt? Watch the NBA Finals on ABC13 on Wednesday. Coverage begins at 7 p.m. CT with NBA Countdown.
Story written in part from Sports Reference.
