[2][3][4][5] However, as the season progressed, Hakeem Olajuwon went down with a knee injury and only played just 47 games,[6][7][8][9] as the Rockets began to slip under .500, 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.
[10] Olajuwon would eventually return as the Rockets finished in fourth place in the Midwest Division with a 41–41 record, and qualified the playoffs as the #8 seed in the Western Conference.
[16][17][18] However, in Game 4, Barkley went down with a torn triceps muscle injury in a 93–71 home loss to the Jazz.
The Jazz would go on to lose in six games to the Chicago Bulls in the NBA Finals for the second straight year.
[27][28][29][30][31] This marked 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.