Rockets Follow Their Leader to First NBA Championship : Pro basketball: Olajuwon shows the way, leading Houston to 90-84 victory over Knicks in Game 7.

By SCOTT HOWARD-COOPER

June 23, 1994 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

HOUSTON — What a strange scene. Rudy Tomjanovich, the man who once did not want to be the coach of the Houston Rockets, partying on the court, and Hakeem Olajuwon, the man who once did not want to be the center of the Houston Rockets, preferring to be alone with his thoughts while sitting on the scorer’s table.

They celebrated in their own way Wednesday night at the Summit, but the message was unmistakably similar: Can you believe it? Can you believe the Rockets, a lottery team in 1991-92 as Tomjanovich had to be coaxed into replacing Don Chaney for the final 30 games, a crumbling team as Olajuwon wanted out amid charges from management that he was faking an injury, are the new NBA champions?

They are, for the first time. That it came in such dramatic fashion, with a stand in the final minutes of the final quarter of the final contest of the season, only made it better, this 90-84 victory over the New York Knicks in Game 7 of the NBA finals.

“I don’t have the words to explain and describe what it feels like,” said Tomjanovich, a Rocket for his entire 24 years as a pro, going from player to scout to assistant coach to head coach. “It’s almost like being in a dream, all the wonderful things that have happened this year. It’s been a long year. I look back to the Portland series and it seems like that is a year ago, and it was just the first round.

“There were some cracks in the egg. On the plane going to Phoenix (in the second round) we were down, 0-2, and had not beaten them at their arena, and we pulled together. We were pretty doggone good before that, but that really pulled us together. It made us believe there wasn’t anything out there that we couldn’t conquer if we hung together.”

That feeling came in handy in the fourth quarter. The Knicks, trying to become only the fourth team ever in 15 tries to win a Game 7 of the NBA finals on the road, were within 78-75 and had just scored twice on second chances after offensive rebounds. It didn’t matter that John Starks was barely in the same area code, about to finish a two-for-18 night that included missing all 11 three-point attempts, and that Patrick Ewing would make only seven of 17 shots.

Houston could have been courting disaster, as the Rockets had done in the fourth quarter on several occasions in the series. Instead, they held the line.

A hook from the right post by Olajuwon gave them an 80-75 lead with 2:29 to play.

After Ewing’s jumper missed, a three-pointer from the left side by Vernon Maxwell with two seconds showing on the shot clock made the score 83-78 with 1:48 to play.

Maxwell turned back up court, jumped in the air and pumped his fist. When the Knicks called time out, hoping to regroup, Rocket teammates charged off the bench and mobbed him.

“It’s definitely my biggest shot ever,” said Maxwell, who finished with 21 points.

Said Tomjanovich: “Our guards took a lot of negative press this series. But without the guards stepping up late in the games--(Sam) Cassell in New York, Kenny Smith the last game and Max this game--we could not have done it. It was definitely a team effort. We’re not a one-man team.”

That one man isn’t a bad building block, though. Olajuwon, the regular-season most valuable player, had 25 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists and three blocked shots in Game 7 and was named finals MVP too. And when the Knicks could muster no final challenge after Maxwell’s shot, he was the one clutching the ball as the clock finally drained to 0:00.

The celebration that followed was not just for the Rockets but for a city that had just won its first title in the NBA, NFL or baseball after years of disappointment. The emotions came together on the Summit court, most people hugging and Olajuwon scanning the scene without saying much.

“Finally,” he said. “I just want to thank God. He has given us this opportunity. We played together as a team. I still can’t believe that we have won the championship.”

He wasn’t alone.

“Houston,” Tomjanovich told the crowd as he accepted the championship trophy, “you’ve wanted this for so long and you finally got it. I’m proud to be part of the team that got it for you.”

Maybe it was too good to be true. Even Smith, in the midst of a horrendous series, emerged in relatively good shape. On the heels of his key three-pointer Sunday that forced the NBA’s first Game 7 since 1988, he made four of seven shots and scored 11 points.

It was that kind of night.

“I always imagined what it would be like to win an NBA title,” Smith said. “I think everybody here imaged what it would be like. It’s about 20 times better.”

And a little unbelievable.