1979–80 Houston Rockets season

March 2026 August 2023 Houston Rockets 1980 41 41 Central 2 4 Del Harris The Summit KHTV KTRH East Conference semifinals(lost to Celtics 0–4) HOU The 1979–80 Houston Rockets season was the Rockets' 13th season in the NBA and 9th season in the city of Houston.1979-80 Houston Rockets In the playoffs, the Rockets defeated the San Antonio Spurs in three games in the First Round, before being swept by the Boston Celtics in four games in the Semifinals. Draft picks 1979 NBA draft RoundPickPlayerPositionNationalityCollege/Club team 1 17 Lee Johnson United States East Texas State 2 42 Paul Mokeski United States Kansas 3 59 Ricardo Brown United States Pepperdine 4 76 Sam Drummer United States Georgia Tech 4 80 Lionel Green United States LSU 5 104 Allen Leavell United States Oklahoma City 6 124 Collie Davis United States Southern 7 143 Rich Valavicius United States Auburn 8 161 Delbert Watson United States East Tennessee State Roster Houston Rockets 1979–80 #B50000 #FFFFFF #FFAA1D #000000 4 Rick Barry F 6 7 205 Miami (FL) 22 Alonzo Bradley F 6 6 190 Texas Southern 10 Mike Dunleavy Mike Dunleavy Sr. G 6 1 180 South Carolina 6 Tom Henderson basketball G 6 3 190 Hawaii 11 Major Jones F 6 9 225 Albany State 30 Allen Leavell G 6 1 170 Oklahoma City 24 Moses Malone C 6 11 235 Petersburg High School 54 Paul Mokeski C 7 0 250 Kansas 23 Calvin Murphy G 5 9 165 Niagara 5 Billy Paultz C 6 11 235 St. John's 50 Robert Reid basketball F 6 8 205 St. Mary's 45 Rudy Tomjanovich F 6 8 218 Michigan Del Harris Scotty Robertson Regular season Season standings HOU HOU z – clinched division title y – clinched division title x – clinched playoff spot Game log Regular season Houston Rockets 1980 #FF0000 #FFD700 Total: 41–41 (home: 29–12; road: 12–29) Houston Rockets October yes #FFD700 #FF0000 2 1 0 6 |- | 1 | October 12, 1979 | @ Boston | L 106–114 | | | | Boston Garden | 0–1 |- | 2 | October 13, 19797:05p.m. CDT | @ Philadelphia | L 105–113 | Malone (20) | Jones (10) | Dunleavy (8) | The Spectrum13,503 | 0–2 |- | 3 | October 16, 1979 | @ New York | L 121–126 | | | | Madison Square Garden | 0–3 |- | 4 | October 17, 1979 | Indiana | W 116–112 | | | | The Summit | 1–3 |- | 5 | October 20, 1979 | Atlanta | W 107–102 | | | | The Summit | 2–3 |- | 6 | October 24, 1979 | Boston | L 99–100 | | | | The Summit | 2–4 |- | 7 | October 28, 1979 | @ New Jersey | L 115–120 | | | | Rutgers Athletic Center | 2–5 |- | 8 | October 30, 1979 | @ Cleveland | L 112–124 | | | | Richfield Coliseum | 2–6 |- | 9 | October 31, 1979 | @ Indiana | L 129–133 (OT) | | | | Market Square Arena | 2–7 Houston Rockets November #FFD700 #FF0000 7 1 3 3 |- | 10 | November 3, 1979 | @ Detroit | W 114–111 | | | | Pontiac Silverdome | 3–7 |- | 11 | November 7, 1979 | New Jersey | W 106–101 | | | | The Summit | 4–7 |- | 12 | November 10, 1979 | Detroit | W 112–104 | | | | The Summit | 5–7 |- | 13 | November 13, 1979 | @ Chicago | W 128–127 | | | | Chicago Stadium | 6–7 |- | 14 | November 14, 1979 | Golden State | W 133–92 | | | | The Summit | 7–7 |- | 15 | November 16, 1979 | New York | W 133–130 | | | | The Summit | 8–7 |- | 16 | November 17, 1979 | @ Atlanta | W 102–100 | | | | The Omni | 9–7 |- | 17 | November 20, 1979 | @ New York | L 125–130 (OT) | | | | Madison Square Garden | 9–8 |- | 18 | November 21, 19798:05p.m. CST | Philadelphia | W 97–94 | Murphy (26) | Malone (17) | Henderson,Leavell (4) | The Summit15,203 | 10–8 |- | 19 | November 23, 19797:05p.m. CST | @ Philadelphia | L 102–113 | Malone (17) | Malone (11) | Reid (6) | The Spectrum12,608 | 10–9 |- | 20 | November 24, 1979 | Washington | L 103–105 | | | | The Summit | 10–10 |- | 21 | November 27, 1979 | @ Kansas City | L 115–117 | | | | Municipal Auditorium | 10–11 |- | 22 | November 28, 1979 | Cleveland | W 113–111 (OT) | | | | The Summit | 11–11 |- | 23 | November 30, 1979 | Atlanta | W 106–95 | | | | The Summit | 12–11 Houston Rockets December #FFD700 #FF0000 4 2 1 7 |- | 24 | December 1, 1979 | Portland | W 120–112 (OT) | | | | The Summit | 13–11 |- | 25 | December 5, 19798:05p.m. CST | Los Angeles | L 114–116 | Malone (32) | Malone (15) | Barry (8) | The Summit15,676 | 13–12 |- | 26 | December 7, 1979 | Detroit | W 124–109 | | | | The Summit | 14–12 |- | 27 | December 8, 1979 | @ San Antonio | L 129–138 | | | | HemisFair Arena | 14–13 |- | 28 | December 12, 1979 | @ San Diego | W 118–107 | | | | San Diego Sports Arena | 15–13 |- | 29 | December 13, 1979 | @ Phoenix | L 113–121 | | | | Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum | 15–14 |- | 30 | December 14, 1979 | @ Seattle | L 101–109 | | | | Kingdome | 15–15 |- | 31 | December 16, 1979 | @ Portland | L 101–123 | | | | Memorial Coliseum | 15–16 |- | 32 | December 19, 1979 | Chicago | L 102–108 | | | | The Summit | 15–17 |- | 33 | December 21, 1979<r>7:05p.m. CST | @ Philadelphia | L 106–117 | Murphy (37) | Malone (12) | Henderson (8) | The Spectrum6,649 | 15–18 |- | 34 | December 22, 1979 | @ Washington | L 114–122 | | | | Capital Centre | 15–19 |- | 35 | December 26, 1979 | San Antonio | W 143–110 | | | | The Summit | 16–19 |- | 36 | December 27, 1979 | @ Atlanta | L 110–112 | | | | The Omni | 16–20 |- | 37 | December 29, 19798:05p.m. CST | Philadelphia | W 104–100 | Murphy (33) | Malone (17) | Henderson (9) | The Summit14,635 | 17–20 Houston Rockets January #FFD700 #FF0000 6 4 2 4 |- | 38 | January 2, 1980 | Boston | L 103–111 | | | | The Summit | 17–21 |- | 39 | January 4, 1980 | @ New Jersey | L 101–104 | | | | Rutgers Athletic Center | 17–22 |- | 40 | January 5, 1980 | Phoenix | W 111–110 | | | | The Summit | 18–22 |- | 41 | January 8, 1980 | @ Cleveland | W 118–115 (OT) | | | | Richfield Coliseum | 19–22 |- | 42 | January 9, 1980 | Denver | W 114–112 | | | | The Summit | 20–22 |- | 43 | January 12, 1980 | Cleveland | W 112–96 | | | | The Summit | 21–22 |- | 44 | January 13, 1980 | @ Milwaukee | W 121–117 | | | | MECCA Arena | 22–22 |- | 45 | January 16, 1980 | New Jersey | L 112–122 | | | | The Summit | 22–23 |- | 46 | January 18, 1980 | Washington | W 134–111 | | | | The Summit | 22–24 |- | 47 | January 19, 1980 | @ Detroit | L 110–122 | | | | Pontiac Silverdome | 22–25 |- | 48 | January 22, 1980 | @ Boston | L 106–112 | | | | Boston Garden | 23–25 |- | 49 | January 23, 1980 | San Diego | W 111–110 (2OT) | | | | The Summit | 24–25 |- | 50 | January 26, 1980 | Seattle | W 123–111 | | | | The Summit | 25–25 |- | 51 | January 29, 1980 | @ Indiana | L 112–133 | | | | Market Square Arena | 25–26 |- | 52 | January 30, 1980 | San Antonio | L 111–118 | | | | The Summit | 25–27 |- | 53 | January 31, 19808:05p.m. CST | Philadelphia | L 105–110 | Malone (36) | Malone (19) | Henderson (6) | The Summit12,539 | 25–28 Houston Rockets February #FFD700 #FF0000 6 1 2 4 |- align="center" |colspan="9" bgcolor="#bbcaff"|All-Star Break |- style="background:#cfc;" |- bgcolor="#bbffbb" |- | 54 | February 6, 1980 | New Jersey | W 115–114 | | | | The Summit | 26–28 |- | 55 | February 8, 1980 | Cleveland | W 105–104 | | | | The Summit | 27–28 |- | 56 | February 9, 1980 | Utah | W 117–95 | | | | The Summit | 28–28 |- | 57 | February 12, 1980 | @ San Antonio | W 120–118 | | | | HemisFair Arena | 29–28 |- | 58 | February 13, 1980 | New York | W 122–117 | | | | The Summit | 30–28 |- | 59 | February 15, 1980 | Milwaukee | L 103–114 | | | | The Summit | 30–29 |- | 60 | February 17, 1980 | @ Denver | L 99–112 | | | | McNichols Sports Arena | 30–30 |- | 61 | February 20, 1980 | @ Golden State | L 102–115 | | | | Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Arena | 30–31 |- | 62 | February 22, 1980 | @ Utah | W 94–82 | | | | Salt Palace | 31–31 |- | 63 | February 24, 19804:00p.m. CST | @ Los Angeles | L 100–112 | Malone (29) | Malone (17) | Paultz (6) | The Forum15,889 | 31–32 |- | 64 | February 26, 1980 | Indiana | W 93–88 | | | | The Summit | 32–32 |- | 65 | February 27, 1980 | Washington | W 110–97 | | | | The Summit | 33–32 |- | 66 | February 28, 1980 | @ Washington | L 99–105 | | | | Capital Centre | 33–33 Houston Rockets March #FFD700 #FF0000 4 3 4 5 |- | 67 | March 2, 1980 | Kansas City | L 91–94 | | | | The Summit | 34–33 |- | 68 | March 4, 1980 | @ Atlanta | W 93–83 | | | | The Omni | 34–34 |- | 69 | March 5, 1980 | Boston | L 99–103 (OT) | | | | The Summit | 34–35 |- | 70 | March 7, 1980 | @ New Jersey | W 111–110 (2OT) | | | | Rutgers Athletic Center | 35–35 |- | 71 | March 8, 1980 | Atlanta | L 79–97 | | | | The Summit | 35–36 |- | 72 | March 11, 1980 | @ New York | L 109–129 | | | | Madison Square Garden | 35–37 |- | 73 | March 12, 1980 | @ Boston | L 105–121 | | | | Boston Garden | 35–38 |- | 74 | March 14, 1980 | @ Washington | L 85–92 | | | | Capital Centre | 35–39 |- | 75 | March 16, 1980 | @ Detroit | W 102–99 | | | | Pontiac Silverdome | 36–39 |- | 76 | March 19, 1980 | New York | W 139–113 | | | | The Summit | 37–39 |- | 77 | March 20, 1980 | @ Cleveland | L 96–109 | | | | Richfield Coliseum | 37–40 |- | 78 | March 22, 1980 | Indiana | W 125–110 | | | | The Summit | 39–39 |- | 79 | March 25, 1980 | @ San Antonio | L 107–126 | | | | HemisFair Arena | 38–41 |- | 80 | March 26, 1980 | San Antonio | W 113–101 | | | | The Summit | 39–41 |- | 81 | March 28, 1980 | Detroit | W 128–112 | | | | The Summit | 40–41 |- | 82 | March 30, 1980 | @ Indiana | W 121–106 | | | | Market Square Arena | 41–41 HOU 1980 Playoffs Houston Rockets 1980 yes #FF0000 #FFD700 Houston Rockets First Round yes yes no #FFD700 #FF0000 2 0 0 1 |- | 1 | April 2, 1980 | San Antonio | W 95–85 | Calvin Murphy (28) | Moses Malone (14) | Tom Henderson (8) | The Summit14,454 | 1–0 |- | 2 | April 4, 1980 | @ San Antonio | L 101–106 | Moses Malone (34) | Moses Malone (19) | Tom Henderson (10) | HemisFair Arena12,894 | 1–1 |- | 3 | April 6, 1980 | San Antonio | W 141–120 | Moses Malone (37) | Moses Malone (20) | Tom Henderson (10) | The Summit15,676 | 2–1 |- Houston Rockets Conference semifinals yes no #FFD700 #FF0000 0 2 0 2 |- | 1 | April 9, 1980 | @ Boston | L 101–119 | Moses Malone (27) | Moses Malone (13) | three players tied (4) | Boston Garden15,320 | 0–1 |- | 2 | April 11, 1980 | @ Boston | L 75–95 | Robert Reid (22) | Robert Reid (14) | Robert Reid (4) | Boston Garden15,320 | 0–2 |- | 3 | April 13, 1980 | Boston | L 81–100 | Moses Malone (28) | Moses Malone (9) | Henderson, Leavell (5) | The Summit14,243 | 0–3 |- | 4 | April 14, 1980 | Boston | L 121–138 | Moses Malone (28) | Moses Malone (15) | Reid, Leavell (8) | The Summit13,106 | 0–4 |- HOU 1980 yes Player statistics Season Player GP GS MPG FG% 3FG% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG Playoffs Player GP GS MPG FG% 3FG% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG Awards and records Moses Malone, All-NBA Second Team References Category:Houston Rockets seasons Houston