Mandatory Credit: Mike Watters-Imagn Images

Houston Rockets’ Playoff History

Houston Rockets have been around since 1967 and had had great players over the years.

Mandatory Credit: Mike Watters-Imagn Images

The Houston Rockets have had an array of quality players over the years and have achieved a lot of success ever since the team the team was founded back in 1967. In the 90s, we saw Hakeem Olajuwon, Kenny “the Jet,” Smith, Clyde Drexler, and various other talented Hall of Famers play for the team. In the 2000s we saw Yao Ming, and T-Mac take over the Rockets. Ming became one of the few foreign born players, at the time, to dominate the league.

Then fast forward to the 2010s we saw James Harden turn into a demon of a scorer with the team and win an MVP award with them. Now in the 2020s we are seeing the rise of Amen Thompson, Jalen Green, Alperen Sengun, and others. The Rockets, after a couple of seasons of rebuilding, are now back in the playoff picture and could even end up as the 2nd seed by the end of the season.

Today we look at the playoff history for the Houston Rockets, so let’s get right into it.

How Many Times Have the Houston Rockets Been to the NBA Playoffs?

The Houston Rockets have played 54 seasons in the NBA and have been to the playoffs 34 times. The Rockets won back-to-back championships during the 1993-94 season and the 1994-95 season, with Olajuwon leading the way in both of those years. They have been to the finals 4 times (1981, 1986, 1994,1995), have appeared in the Western Conference Finals 7 times, have won the divisional title 4 times so far, and have been to the 2nd round of the playoffs 17 times.

Back to postseason basketball 🚀 pic.twitter.com/e5AQifA3aA
— Houston Rockets (@HoustonRockets) March 20, 2025

What Is the Houston Rockets’ Win-Loss Record in the NBA Playoffs?

The Rockets have been to the playoffs 34 times and has played in a total of 62 playoff series, of which they’ve lost 32 but won 30 of those series, placing them below .500 which gives them a 48.4 winning percentage.

Here are the four seasons where they won the most playoff games;

Season	Record
1980-81	12-9
1985-86	13-7
1993-94	15-8
1994-95	15-7

When Was Houston Rockets’ Last Playoff Appearance?

The last time we saw Rockets in the playoffs was back in 2019-2020 season. The Rockets had traded Chris Paul away to OKC and had recruited Russell Westbrook that season. There were great expectations around the team but they were knocked out by the 2020 NBA Champions, the Los Angeles Lakers, in the 2nd round. Prior to that, Harden and the Rockets came close to reaching the finals in the 2017-18 season, however, after Chris Paul went down with an injury, the Warriors won two straight games and sent the Rockets home.

Rockets shocked the world by taking the WCF Series 3-2 lead against the Warriors! (2018) pic.twitter.com/845RUO9bTx
— ThrowbackHoops (@ThrowbackHoops) May 16, 2024

Since Harden left the Rockets to join forces with KD and Irving in 2021, the Rockets have not been to the playoffs yet. They made a late push last season with head coach Ime Udoka but it wasn’t enough to get into the playoffs nor the play-in. Now in the 2024-2025 season, we will finally see the Rockets in playoff action, for the first time since 2019-2020 season.

Also Read:

How Many Finals Have the Houston Rockets Won?

The Houston Rockets took full advantage of Michael Jordan’s one-year hiatus as they won back-to-back championships in 1993-1994 season (against the New York Knicks) and 1994-1995 season (against the Orlando Magic). Olajuwon aka “The Dream,” won back-to-back finals MVP during those two championship runs.

They made the NBA finals four times and they sit at the 11th spot for the most finals appearances in NBA history. The Rockets have played in 23 finals games and are tied with OKC for the 11th most.

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Eric Divakaran

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I cover the National Football League and things cannot get better than that. I always dreamed to play football or basketball professionally since I’m built like a Running Back. But now that I can’t, since I’m technically in the “Unc” age, I thought why not pick a career in sports industry? So here I am, doing what I love, and hoping that the Commanders win the Super Bowl. I give love to players when it’s due, but can be critical about their performances at the same time. Enough about me, now let my articles do all the talking.