For the 1980-1981 Houston Rockets (head coached by Del Harris ), Moses Malone partically carried the Rockets to NBA finals. Meanwhile, Calvin Murphy , the shortest player in the league, set two NBA records, sinking 78 consecutive free throws to break Rick Barry 's mark of 60 set in 1976 and achieving a free-throw percentage of .958, breaking Rick Barry's record set with the Rockets in 1979 . Other members of the 80-81 team were Rudy Tomjanovich , Robert Reid , Mike Dunleavy, Sr. , Allen Leavell , Billy Paultz , Bill Willoughby , Calvin Garrett , Tom Henderson , and Major Jones . Houston tied with Kansas City for second place in the Midwest behind San Antonio with a regular season record of 40-42.
Houston's playoff run began by drawing the defending NBA-champion Los Angeles Lakers and Magic Johnson in the first round. The Rockets upset Los Angeles, two games to one, then got past the San Antonio Spurs and George Gervin , four games to three, in the Western Conference Semifinals. This set up an unlikely Conference Cinals matchup with Kansas City . The Kings, led by Otis Birdsong , Scott Wedman , and Phil Ford fell to the Rockets in five games. The Houston Rockets finally made it to Finals, the first time a team from Houston played for a championship in basketball, Football , or Baseball . The championship series with Boston (who got past the Philadelphia 76ers in order to get to the Finals) was fought to six games. Unfortunately for the Rockets, the Celtics with head coach Bill Fitch , Larry Bird , Robert Parish , Cedric Maxwell (the 1981 NBA Finals MVP), and Kevin McHale were just too strong.
- Before 2003 , the 1981 NBA Finals received the lowest television Rating of all-tme. The 1981 Finals drew a 6.7 ratings, according to Nielsen Media Research. Meanwhile, the 2003 Finals between the San Antonio Spurs and New Jersey Nets drew a 6.5 rating.
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