[15] On January 26, 1970, during an emotional press conference on the floor of the Sports Arena, Breitbard addressed the San Diego fans regarding his dire finances and the state of his Rockets basketball and Gulls hockey teams.

"[15] Over the next nearly year and a half, numerous fans circulated petitions and lobbied local officials to help keep the Rockets and Gulls afloat and in San Diego.

On January 12, 1971, the Rockets hosted the 1971 NBA All-Star Game at the San Diego Sports Arena, a close contest in which the West beat the East 108–107 in front of a packed house of 14,378 fans.

[30] Houston previously was awarded an NBA expansion franchise along with Buffalo, Cleveland and Portland on February 6, 1970,[31] but the new entry folded six weeks later on March 20 when its investment group led by Alan Rothenberg failed to make the $750,000 down payment on the $3.7 million entrance fee required before the league's college player draft.

[43] The following season had the team regressing to just 28 wins due to an injury to captain Tomjanovich, who got numerous facial fractures after being punched by Kermit Washington of the Los Angeles Lakers and wound up spending five months in rehabilitation.

[44][45][46] After trading Lucas to the Golden State Warriors in exchange for Rick Barry,[47] the Rockets returned to the playoffs in 1978–79, with "The Chairman Of The Boards" Moses Malone receiving the 1979 MVP Award,[48] but the team was swept 2–0 by Atlanta in the first round.

[58] When the Rockets finished a league worst 14–68,[59] Celtics coach Bill Fitch was hired to replace outgoing Del Harris,[58] and the team won the first pick of the 1983 NBA draft,[58] used to select Ralph Sampson from the University of Virginia.

[62] In his first season, Olajuwon finished second to Michael Jordan in NBA Rookie of the Year balloting,[63] and the Rockets record improved by 19 games, good enough for a return to the playoffs as the third best team in the West, where they were upset by the sixth-seeded Utah Jazz.

Early in the 1987–88 season, Sampson, who had signed a new contract, was traded to the Golden State Warriors, bringing the Twin Towers era to an end just 18 months after their Finals appearance.

However, the attempts to rebuild the team nucleus incorporated players that would later make an impact in the years to come, such as Kenny Smith, Vernon Maxwell, Robert Horry, Mario Elie, Sam Cassell and Otis Thorpe.

[85] The Rockets initially struggled in the first half of the 1994–95 season,[89] which they fixed by sending Otis Thorpe to the Portland Trail Blazers in exchange for Olajuwon's former college teammate Clyde Drexler.

Still, a strong playoff run that earned Houston the nickname "Clutch City" had the Rockets defeating the West's top three seeds – the Jazz, Suns and Spurs – to reach back-to-back finals, this time against the Orlando Magic, led by Shaquille O'Neal and Penny Hardaway.

"[94] During the off-season, the Rockets went for a change of visual identity, making navy blue and silver the new primary colors while adopting a new cartoon-inspired logo and pinstriped jerseys.

[98] The resulting "Big Three" of Olajuwon, Drexler, and Barkley had a strong debut season with a 57–25 record,[99] going all the way to the Western Conference finals before losing to the Utah Jazz 4–2 on a dramatic last-second shot by John Stockton.

[117] Led by former Knicks coach Jeff Van Gundy,[118] the Rockets finished the regular season with a record of 45–37,[119] earning their first playoff berth since 1999,[86] again losing to the Lakers in the first round.

Still, the duo was plagued with injuries – of the 463 regular season games for which they were teammates, Yao missed 146 and McGrady 160 – and did not win any playoff series, despite gathering leads over the Dallas Mavericks in 2005 and the Jazz in 2007.

Despite great play by Kevin Martin, who arrived from the Kings, and Aaron Brooks, who would eventually be chosen as the Most Improved Player of the season, the Rockets could not make it to the playoffs, finishing 42–40, 3rd in the Southwest Division.

[132] Said off-season, which saw the NBA going through a lockout, had Adelman dismissed,[133] and general manager Daryl Morey deciding to start a revamp of the Rockets based on advanced statistical analytics (similar to sabermetrics in baseball) in player acquisitions and style of play.

[140] Led by the new inside-out combination of Howard and James Harden, and with a strong supporting cast including Chandler Parsons, Jeremy Lin, and Ömer Aşık, the Rockets were expected to jump into title contention in the upcoming season.

[147] During the playoffs, the Rockets beat the Mavericks 4–1 in the first round, and overcame a 3–1 deficit against the Los Angeles Clippers to win the Western semifinals and return to the Conference Finals for the first time in 18 years.

[157] Morey signed Nenê Hilario to succor the roster defense and a backup behind Clint Capela and Ryan Anderson after Dwight Howard and Donatas Motiejūnas left the team during free agency.

[160] To gain more firepower from the bench, Morey traded Corey Brewer and the 2017 first-round pick to the Los Angeles Lakers for Lou Williams to enhance the team's offense.

[176] The Rockets had one draft pick entering the off-season, and they used it to select De'Anthony Melton, packaging him in a trade with the Phoenix Suns alongside Ryan Anderson to receive Brandon Knight and Marquese Chriss.

[190] By the end of the season, Harden and Westbrook scored a combined 61.5 points per game, breaking Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal's previous record for the highest-scoring basketball duo since the ABA-NBA merger.

Because of their additions in the draft, including first round selections in Alperen Şengün and Josh Christopher, the team began focusing on developing and rebuilding around their young core, which resulted in John Wall being benched for the entire season.

The next day, former Memphis Grizzlies forward Dillion Brooks joined the team signing a four-year, $86 million contract after a mortifying first-round exit against the Los Angeles Lakers.

After a fan contest with over 5,000 entries, the team went with the idea of Missouri City artist Thomas Nash of a rocket orbiting a basketball, which was then reworked by Houston designer Chris Hill.

[13][214] The Rockets released simplified logos and uniforms in the 2003–04 season,[116] which were created by New York-based agency Alfafa Studio in association with Japanese designer Eiko Ishioka.

A nod to both teams' legends Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler, the white-based uniform featured "H-Town" in red cursive letters with white and blue trim, along with block numbers.

[274] Morey's tweet resulted in the Chinese Basketball Association's suspension of its relationship with the Rockets and the issuance of a statement of dissatisfaction from the consulate office of China in Houston.