HOUSTON, June 22 -- The Houston Rockets survived an uncharacteristic 10 for 25 shooting performance by Hakeem Olajuwon Wednesday night to win their first NBA Championship with a 90-84 victory over the New York Knicks in Game 7 of the NBA Finals.
Olajuwon finished with 25 points, but suffered through his worst shooting night of the Finals. Vernon Maxwell scored 21 points for the Rockets, including four free throws in the final 10.4 seconds. Sam Cassell added 13 points and Kenny Smith contributed 11, and also hit a pair of key free throws with 15 seconds to play.
Derek Harper led New York with 23 points, but had just 10 in the second half -- including a 3-pointer after the game was already decided. Patrick Ewing scored 17 points, and Charles Oakley added 10 before fouling out with 15 seconds left.
John Starks scored just 8 points on 2 of 18 shooting and missed all six of his 3-point attempts in the fourth quarter.
The defense by both teams had been stifling throughout the Finals, and Wednesday night was no exception. The Rockets set an NBAplayoff and Finals record for fewest points in seven games with 603. The Knicks scored the second lowest total, 608. The previous low for seven games in the Finals was 636 by Syracuse against Ft. Wayne in 1955, the first year of the 24-second clock. The lowest total in any seven-game playoff series was 620, set by New York in 1992 vs. Chicago.
Cassell scored Houston's first 6 points of the fourth quarter, giving the Rockets a 69-62 lead when he hit a pair of free throws with 10:53 left.
His jumper with 8:31 left gave Houston a 74-66 advantage and after Starks missed a 3-point try, they had a chance to go up by 10 points, but Carl Herrera missed a baseline jumper.
Oakley hit a 15-footer and after Cassell threw the ball away, Greg Anthony nailed a 3-pointer from the right corner that brought New York within 74-71 with 6:51 to go.
The Knicks then fell behind by 6 before Olajuwon committed his fifth foul, sending Oakley to the line for a pair that brought the Knicks within 78-75 with 2:51 left.
Olajuwon connected on a jump-hook and after Ewing missed a 12-footer from the left baseline, Maxwell got free for a 3-pointer from the left arc and Houston led 83-75 with 1:48 to go.
The Knicks scored the next 3 points, all from the line, but 3-point misses from Starks on the next three consecutive possessions prevented a New York come back.
The Rockets led by 6 points four times in the third quarter, but after Maxwell's fallaway jumper put Houston up 61-55 with 1:12 left, Harper hit a 3-pointer and after Maxwell tossed up an airball from long range, Oakley's jumper brought New York within 61-60 with 23.9 seconds left.
Olajuwon had perhaps his worst half of the series in the first two quarters, going 4 of 12 from the field, but the Rockets led most of the way because of the play of Smith and Maxwell.
Smith scored 9 points, including a 3-pointer at the shot clock buzzer that gave Houston a 38-33 lead with 3:21 left in the half.
Maxwell finished the half with 11 points, and his off-balance jumper with 4.7 seconds left sent the Rockets into the lockerroom with a 45-43 edge.
