( The Knicks eventually reached the finals that year, but lost to the Houston Rockets.

In 1984, the Rockets drafted Hakeem Olajuwon who, paired with Ralph Sampson and both collectively known as the " Twin Towers ", led them to the 1986 Finals in their second and third year respectively, where in another brave effort they lost again to the Boston Celtics.

The Rockets lost 67 games in their inaugural season, which was then an NBA record for losses in a season.

The Spurs reached the Western Conference Finals, but lost to the eventual NBA Champion Houston Rockets 4 – 2.

The team made the playoffs again in the 1992 – 93 season with a 41 – 41 record, but lost again in five games in the first round, to the Rockets.

Riley returned to the NBA Finals in 1994, but his Knicks lost in seven games to the Houston Rockets after being up 3 – 2 in the series, and it denied New York City the distinction of both NBA and NHL titles in the same year.

In preseason play against the NBA the Colonels lost a game in Lincoln, Nebraska to the Kansas City-Omaha Kings 102-91 on September 29, 1974 ; beat the Washington Bullets 118-95 at Freedom Hall on October 1, 1974 ; lost by one point on the road to the Houston Rockets on October 5, 1974, 96-95 ; beat the Detroit Pistons 109-100 at Freedom Hall on October 8, 1974 and on October 12, 1974 defeated the Chicago Bulls at Freedom Hall 93-75.

In the 1995 playoffs, the Jazz lost to the Houston Rockets for the second consecutive year, this time in the first round.

They beat NEC Green Rockets easily but lost to a fired-up Toyota Verblitz.

After convincing wins in the early rounds of the playoffs, the Thunderbirds lost to the Kelowna Rockets four games to one.

Miraculously, they managed to finish four games above. 500, but lost in the first round to the powerful Denver Rockets.

Division ) and made their first playoff appearance, but lost in the first round to the eventual President's Cup champions, the Kelowna Rockets, in four games.

The 2004 – 05 Rockets were 51 – 31 under Jeff Van Gundy, and they lost in the first round of the 2005 NBA Playoffs to the 4 games to 3.

The 2006 – 07 Rockets were 52 – 30 under Van Gundy and lost in the first round of the 2007 NBA Playoffs to the, four games to three.

He delivered in the playoffs, helping the Rockets to the Eastern Conference Finals, which they lost to the Philadelphia 76ers in six games.

They lost the Japan Championship final on February 27, 2005 to NEC Green Rockets 13-17.

Dunleavy then split the following season between Philadelphia and the Houston Rockets after being traded, and soon made the Finals once again, but yet again his team lost, this time to the Boston Celtics, led by Larry Bird.

In his first season the Rockets lost their opening playoff match to the Texas Chaparrals.

In the 1972-73 season Hannum coached the Rockets to the 1973 ABA Playoffs but they lost in the first round of the Western Division playoffs to the Indiana Pacers, 4 games to 1.

Hannum returned the Rockets to the 1974 ABA Playoffs where they lost in their opening match to the San Diego Conquistadors.

In the 2004 – 2005 season, the Beijing Ducks finished in second place in the North Division, but lost in the quarter-finals to the South Division's Bayi Rockets.

In the 2004 – 2005 season, the Bayi Rockets finished in third place in the South Division and defeated the Beijing Ducks in the quarter-finals, but lost in the semi-finals to the Guangdong Southern Tigers, the defending champions.

In the 2005 – 2006 season, the Bayi Rockets made the finals but lost to the Guangdong Southern Tigers.

* Lumi, a fictional character and the singer of the virtual band Genki Rockets, was born on September 11, 2037, and is the first human to be born in space.

* 1813-" A Treatise on the Motion of Rockets " by William Moore – first appearance of the rocket equation

Rockets boiler was of the more highly developed form, with the separate firebox and a blastpipe for draught, rather than Seguin's cumbersome fans, but Rocket was not the first multi-tubular boiler, although it remains unclear just whose invention it was.

Rockets first firebox was of copper sheet and of a somewhat triangular shape from the side.

The 1989 – 90 season saw Miami awarded with the 3rd pick overall, only to parlay via two trades ( first with the Denver Nuggets and later with the Houston Rockets ) into getting the 9th and 12th picks, with which they selected Willie Burton of the University of Minnesota and Alec Kessler of the University of Georgia.

The Heat became the first team since the 1968 – 69 San Diego Rockets to go from 15 wins to the playoffs in one year ( finished 43 – 39 ).

This made the Nets the second team to opt for a D-League " hybrid affiliation ," the first being the Houston Rockets with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers.

Additionally, the Hornets were the first NBA team to popularize the use of pinstripes on uniforms, inspiring similar designs by the Orlando Magic, Toronto Raptors, Houston Rockets, Chicago Bulls and Indiana Pacers.

The Cavs became the first team since the 1983 Houston Rockets to have two picks in the top five in the draft.

Inspired by the tough playoff defeat, the Rockets stormed all the way to the 1994 NBA Finals, where Olajuwon led them to the franchise's first championship against his rival Patrick Ewing and the New York Knicks.

Jack McMahon was named the Rockets ' coach, and the team's first draft pick, in 1967, was Pat Riley.

Despite their regular season success, the Spurs were unable to win any NBA championships, losing in the Western Conference playoffs to the Houston Rockets in the first round of the 1981 and the Los Angeles Lakers in in 4 games 1982 and in 6 games in the 1983 Western Finals despite getting both wins at the Forum in the 1983 series.

The Rockets, led by Moses Malone, defeated Los Angeles in the first round of the playoffs.

After some run-ins with Van Exel, displeasure with Harris's strategies, and a first round loss to the Rockets, Johnson decided to retire for the final time after the season.

They defeated the Rockets, Spurs, and Timberwolves in the first three rounds of the 2004 NBA Playoffs, before succumbing to Detroit in five games in the 2004 NBA Finals.

On the trade deadline long time Laker Derek Fisher along with a first round draft pick were traded to the Houston Rockets for Jordan Hill.

This " Tracking Light for Model Rockets " project appeared in the September 1969 issue of Model Rocketry ( magazine ) | Model Rocketry and was the first kit sold by MITS.

The album's first single, " Rockets ", was made available on the Internet in early April 2009.

The first wider recognition of Gilbert and his brothers ' work occurred in 1982, after they had sent in a copy of their Love & Rockets comic, which up to that point they had been self publishing, to the Comics Journal, the foremost U. S. magazine of news and criticism pertaining to comic books and strips.

In 1981, Hernandez and his brothers Jaime and Mario published the first issue of Love and Rockets, which was quickly picked up by Fantagraphics Books, who republished the earliest materials in a new series starting in 1982.

In 1983, Hernandez published the first part of the first Heartbreak Soup story in Love and Rockets # 3.

The first volume of Love and Rockets came to an end in 1996, with its fiftieth issue.

In his first season with the Rockets ( 2004 – 05 ), Mutombo averaged 15. 2 MPG, 5. 3 RPG, and 4. 0 PPG.