The 2002–03 Houston Rockets season was the 36th season for the Houston Rockets in the National Basketball Association, and their 32nd season in Houston, Texas. This was also the team's final season in which they played their home games at the Compaq Center. After finishing with a 28–54 record the previous season, the Rockets won the NBA draft lottery, and selected 7'6" center, and Chinese basketball star Yao Ming with the first overall pick in the 2002 NBA draft. In December, the Rockets traded Kenny Thomas to the Philadelphia 76ers, and acquired James Posey from the Denver Nuggets in a three-team trade.
With the addition of Yao, the Rockets got off to a 9–6 start to the regular season, and played .500 in winning percentage for the remainder of the season, holding a 26–22 record at the All-Star break. The team posted a five-game winning streak in March, and won five of their final seven games of the season. The Rockets finished in fifth place in the Midwest Division with a 43–39 record, which was a 15-game improvement over the previous season; however, the team missed the NBA playoffs by finishing just one game behind the 8th–seeded Phoenix Suns.
Yao averaged 13.5 points, 8.2 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game, and was named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team, while Francis averaged 21.0 points, 6.2 rebounds, 6.2 assists and 1.7 steals per game, and Cuttino Mobley provided the team with 17.5 points per and 1.3 steals game, and also led them with 118 three-point field goals. In addition, Posey provided with 9.3 points, 4.8 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game in 58 games after the trade, while Glen Rice contributed 9.0 points per game and 101 three-point field goals, and second-year forward Eddie Griffin provided with 8.6 points, 6.0 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game. Meanwhile, Maurice Taylor averaged 8.4 points and 3.6 rebounds per game, Kelvin Cato provided with 5.9 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game, and Moochie Norris contributed 4.4 points and 2.4 assists per game.
During the NBA All-Star weekend at the Philips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia, Francis and Yao were both selected for the 2003 NBA All-Star Game, as members of the Western Conference All-Star team; it was Yao's first ever All-Star appearance. Yao also finished in second place in Rookie of the Year voting, behind Amar'e Stoudemire of the Suns, while head coach Rudy Tomjanovich finished tied in 15th place in Coach of the Year voting. One notable highlight of the regular season occurred on January 17, 2003, in a home game against the 3-time defending NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers at the Compaq Center. Francis posted a double-double of 44 points and 11 assists, and also made 6 out of 8 three-point field-goal attempts, as the Rockets defeated the Lakers in overtime, 108–104.
The Rockets finished 27th in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 565,166 at the Compaq Center during the regular season, which was the third-lowest in the league. Following the season, Tomjanovich resigned as head coach due to health issues, although he would return to coach the Los Angeles Lakers in 2004. Meanwhile, Posey signed as a free agent with the Memphis Grizzlies, while Griffin was released to free agency, and Rice was traded to the Utah Jazz, but was released and signed with the Los Angeles Clippers.
Draft picks
Round Pick Player Position Nationality College 1 1 Yao Ming C Shanghai Sharks 1 15 Boštjan Nachbar SF Benetton Treviso 2 37 Tito Maddox PG Fresno State So.
Roster
Note Bold = All-Star selection
Regular season
Season standings
Game log Game Date Opponent Result Rockets score Opponents Record Streak OT 1 October 30 @ Indiana Loss 82 91 0-1 Lost 1 2 November 1 @ Denver Win 83 74 1-1 Won 1 3 November 2 Toronto Win 88 76 2-1 Won 2 4 November 5 Seattle Loss 97 104 2-2 Lost 1 5 November 9 Golden State Win 111 104 3-2 Won 1 6 November 12 Portland Win 86 83 4-2 Won 2 7 November 15 @ Phoenix Loss 87 88 4-3 Lost 1 8 November 17 @ LA Lakers Win 93 89 5-3 Won 1 9 November 19 Cleveland Win 97 80 6-3 Won 2 10 November 21 @ Dallas Loss 90 103 6-4 Lost 1 11 November 22 Washington Win 93 86 7-4 Won 1 12 November 24 @ LA Clippers Loss 89 90 7-5 Lost 1 13 November 26 @ Portland Loss 71 77 7-6 Lost 2 14 November 27 @ Golden State Win 91 84 8-6 Won 1 15 November 29 @ Seattle Win 83 72 9-6 Won 2 16 December 1 @ Sacramento Loss 84 103 9-7 Lost 1 17 December 3 San Antonio Win 89 75 10-7 Won 1 18 December 6 @ New Orleans Loss 96 98 10-8 Lost 1 OT 19 December 7 Philadelphia Win 97 72 11-8 Won 1 20 December 10 Sacramento Win 103 96 12-8 Won 2 21 December 13 @ Memphis Loss 109 114 12-9 Lost 1 OT 22 December 14 LA Clippers Loss 83 94 12-10 Lost 2 23 December 16 @ Miami Win 105 100 13-10 Won 1 OT 24 December 18 Indiana Win 95 83 14-10 Won 2 25 December 20 Atlanta Win 101 82 15-10 Won 3 26 December 21 @ Minnesota Loss 86 98 15-11 Lost 1 27 December 23 Utah Loss 91 96 15-12 Lost 2 28 December 27 New York Loss 83 99 15-13 Lost 3 29 December 29 New Orleans Win 97 85 16-13 Won 1 30 December 31 Milwaukee Win 103 80 17-13 Won 2 31 January 4 Golden State Loss 84 86 17-14 Lost 1 32 January 7 Minnesota Win 94 86 18-14 Won 1 33 January 8 @ Orlando Win 91 81 19-14 Won 2 34 January 10 @ Atlanta Loss 75 84 19-15 Lost 1 35 January 11 Denver Win 87 85 20-15 Won 1 36 January 13 Boston Win 101 92 21-15 Won 2 37 January 15 Phoenix Win 102 96 22-15 Won 3 38 January 17 LA Lakers Win 108 104 23-15 Won 4 OT 39 January 20 @ San Antonio Loss 82 87 23-16 Lost 1 40 January 21 @ Dallas Loss 86 107 23-17 Lost 2 41 January 24 Detroit Loss 74 98 23-18 Lost 3 42 January 26 @ Chicago Loss 98 100 23-19 Lost 4 43 January 27 @ Memphis Win 100 95 24-19 Won 1 44 January 29 Dallas Loss 81 104 24-20 Lost 1 45 January 31 Minnesota Win 121 101 25-20 Won 1 46 February 2 Sacramento Win 105 89 26-20 Won 2 47 February 4 @ Minnesota Loss 89 103 26-21 Lost 1 48 February 5 @ Cleveland Loss 102 105 26-22 Lost 2 49 February 11 Utah Loss 101 103 26-23 Lost 3 OT 50 February 12 @ Utah Win 106 76 27-23 Won 1 51 February 14 Miami Loss 82 94 27-24 Lost 1 52 February 18 @ LA Lakers Loss 99 106 27-25 Lost 2 2OT 53 February 19 @ Phoenix Win 107 89 28-25 Won 1 54 February 21 Dallas Loss 85 100 28-26 Lost 1 55 February 22 Memphis Win 93 82 29-26 Won 1 56 February 24 @ Boston Win 101 95 30-26 Won 2 OT 57 February 25 @ New York Loss 95 102 30-27 Lost 1 58 February 27 @ Washington Loss 98 100 30-28 Lost 2 OT 59 March 2 San Antonio Loss 88 97 30-29 Lost 3 60 March 4 @ Detroit Loss 83 96 30-30 Lost 4 61 March 5 @ Toronto Win 97 95 31-30 Won 1 62 March 8 New Jersey Win 83 71 32-30 Won 2 63 March 12 LA Clippers Win 118 114 33-30 Won 3 OT 64 March 14 Chicago Win 121 91 34-30 Won 4 65 March 16 Phoenix Win 85 75 35-30 Won 5 66 March 18 @ Seattle Loss 94 100 35-31 Lost 1 67 March 19 @ Portland Loss 83 94 35-32 Lost 2 68 March 21 @ Golden State Win 117 107 36-32 Won 1 69 March 23 @ Sacramento Loss 108 109 36-33 Lost 1 70 March 24 @ LA Clippers Win 108 90 37-33 Won 1 71 March 26 LA Lakers Loss 93 96 37-34 Lost 1 72 March 27 @ San Antonio Loss 85 98 37-35 Lost 2 73 March 29 Denver Win 102 89 38-35 Won 1 74 March 31 @ New Jersey Loss 86 110 38-36 Lost 1 75 April 2 @ Milwaukee Loss 99 106 38-37 Lost 2 76 April 4 @ Philadelphia Win 88 79 39-37 Won 1 77 April 6 Orlando Win 114 93 40-37 Won 2 78 April 8 Portland Loss 66 81 40-38 Lost 1 79 April 9 @ Utah Loss 73 94 40-39 Lost 2 80 April 12 Seattle Win 101 86 41-39 Won 1 81 April 15 Memphis Win 97 86 42-39 Won 2 82 April 16 @ Denver Win 89 84 43-39 Won 3
Player statistics
Regular season Player GP GS MPG FG% 3FG% FT% RPG APG SPG BPGPPG 73 5 17.1 .520 .000 .532 5.9 .3 .5 1.2 4.5 13 3 8.0 .472 1.000 2.2 .1 .2 .1 2.8 81 81 41.0 .435 .354 .800 6.2 6.2 1.7 .5 21.0 77 66 24.5 .400 .333 .617 6.0 1.1 .7 1.4 8.6 58 10 11.8 .385 .417 .500 1.3 .8 .5 .1 2.3 9 0 3.9 .250 .000 .625 .8 .6 .3 .1 1.2 82 72 29.0 .498 .500 .811 8.2 1.7 .4 1.8 13.5 73 73 41.7 .434 .352 .858 4.2 2.8 1.3 .5 17.5 49 0 12.9 .466 .219 .786 2.6 .5 .2 .3 3.7 14 1 5.5 .355 .200 .500 .8 .2 .1 .1 2.1 82 3 16.8 .406 .244 .684 1.9 2.4 .7 .0 4.4† 58 47 28.4 .439 .326 .826 4.8 1.8 1.3 .2 9.3 62 26 24.7 .429 .398 .759 2.5 1.0 .4 .1 9.0 67 9 20.6 .432 .000 .725 3.6 1.0 .3 .3 8.4† 20 14 29.3 .432 .733 6.9 2.0 .8 .3 9.9
Player statistics citation:
Awards and records
Awards Yao Ming, NBA All-Rookie Team 1st Team
Records
Transactions
Trades
Free agents
Additions
Player Signed Former team
Subtractions Player Left New team
See also 2002–03 NBA season
References