From Choke City to Clutch City, the Houston Rocket of the mid-nineties were so cool. They took the '94 title and everyone was like "that's just cuz Jordan switched sports!" So, they clawed their way up from the 6th seed to win it all again in 1995.

The only trouble? When you rise so high, you have farther to fall.

A short-sighted desire to capitalize on aging stars quickly (that'd be Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler), and worry about the future later, led to injuries decimating seasons (poor Charles Barkley), backcourt weakness (prob shouldn't have traded away Sam Cassell), bruised egos (looking at you Scottie Pippen) and the end of an era. The Clutch City Rockets couldn't last forever.

Written and produced by: Clara Morris
Directed and edited by: Jiazhen Zhang
Motion graphics by: Mike Das

Enter the Secret Base: http://www.sbnation.com/secret-base
Follow us on Twitter:   / secretbase  
Check out our full video catalog: http://goo.gl/9pMHRV
Visit our playlists: http://goo.gl/NvpZFF
Explore SB Nation: http://www.sbnation.com