1997–98 Houston Rockets season

(lost to Jazz 2–3) Fox Sports Southwest

The 1997–98 Houston Rockets season was the 31st season for the Houston Rockets in the National Basketball Association, and their 27th season in Houston, Texas. After a slow 3–5 start to the regular season, the Rockets went on a nine-game winning streak winning 12 of their first 17 games. The team traveled to Mexico City, Mexico, where they defeated the Dallas Mavericks, 108–106 on December 6, 1997, which was the first NBA regular season game played in Mexico.

However, as the season progressed, Hakeem Olajuwon went down with a knee injury and only played just 47 games, as the Rockets struggled and played around .500 in winning percentage, showing their age and the wear and tear of long playoff runs as they played mediocre basketball all season, holding a 22–24 record at the All-Star break. Olajuwon would eventually return as the Rockets finished in fourth place in the Midwest Division with a 41–41 record, and earned the eighth seed in the Western Conference.

Clyde Drexler averaged 18.4 points, 5.5 assists and 1.8 steals per game, and led the Rockets with 106 three-point field goals, while Kevin Willis stepped up in Olajuwon's absence, averaging 16.1 points and 8.4 rebounds per game, Olajuwon provided the team with 16.4 points, 9.8 rebounds, 1.8 steals and 2.0 blocks per game, and Charles Barkley provided with 15.2 points and 11.7 rebounds per game, and played half of the regular season off the bench as the team's sixth man. In addition, second-year guard and three-point specialist Matt Maloney contributed 8.6 points per game, and led the Rockets with 126 three-point field goals, while Mario Elie and Eddie Johnson both averaged 8.4 points per game each. Meanwhile, three-point specialist Matt Bullard provided with 7.0 points per game, second-year forward Othella Harrington averaged 6.0 points and 3.6 rebounds per game, rookie shooting guard, and second-round draft pick Rodrick Rhodes contributed 5.8 points per game, and Brent Price provided with 5.6 points and 2.7 assists per game.

During the NBA All-Star weekend at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York, Drexler won the inaugural NBA 2Ball Competition, along with Cynthia Cooper of the WNBA's Houston Comets. Meanwhile, Rhodes was selected for the NBA Rookie Game, as a member of the Western Conference Rookie team.

In the Western Conference First Round of the 1998 NBA playoffs, and for the second consecutive year, and the fourth time in five years, the Rockets faced off against the top–seeded, and Midwest Division champion Utah Jazz, who were led by the trio of All-Star forward Karl Malone, All-Star guard John Stockton, and Jeff Hornacek. In a rematch of last year's Western Conference Finals, and with the series tied at 1–1, the Rockets won Game 3 over the Jazz at home, 89–85 at The Summit to take a 2–1 series lead. However, Barkley went down with a torn triceps muscle injury in Game 4, in which the Rockets lost at home to the Jazz, 93–71. Without Barkley, the Rockets lost Game 5 to the Jazz on the road, 84–70 at the Delta Center, thus losing in a hard-fought five-game series. It was the first time the Rockets lost in the opening round of the NBA playoffs since the 1990–91 season. The Jazz would go on to lose in six games to the 2-time defending NBA champion Chicago Bulls in the 1998 NBA Finals for the second straight year.

The Rockets finished 17th in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 670,117 at The Summit during the regular season. This was the final season for Drexler, who received a standing ovation after the Rockets' Game 5 loss to the Jazz at the Delta Center; he then retired to take over the head coaching job at the University of Houston, where he had played college basketball along with Olajuwon, ending his fifteen-year career in the NBA. Also following the season, Willis was traded to the Toronto Raptors, while Elie signed as a free agent with the San Antonio Spurs, and reserve center Charles Jones, the oldest player in the league during the season, retired at age 41.