Knicks Trying to Accomplish Something That Hasn’t Been Done Since the '95 Rockets

The 2025-26 NBA season is nearing its finale as the San Antonio Spurs and the New York Knicks switch venues from Texas to New York, with the Knicks up 2-0.

The Knicks are on a 13-game winning streak, having not lost a game since Game 1 of the Eastern Conference first round against the Atlanta Hawks. That is the second-longest playoff winning streak since the 2017 Golden State Warriors. So it's no surprise the Knicks lead 2-0. The biggest surprise in this series is that they have won the first two games on the road.

The NBA Finals are the one series where homecourt advantage is a major factor, as the home team typically splits the first two games or sweeps them. That has been the case for almost the entire history of the NBA, going back to the league's inception.

Road teams winning the first two games on the road are rare in themselves, as it has only happened twice before in NBA history. Sweeping a series that you started on the road is even more rare, as it has also only happened twice in NBA history. It has been over 30 years since it last happened, and the team that accomplished that feat was the 1995 Houston Rockets.

The Houston Rockets Made History in Multiple Ways in 1995

The Rockets, as we all know, won their second NBA championship in 1995, sweeping the Orlando Magic for back-to-back championships. The Rockets made history on several fronts that season.

Not only were they the lowest seed in NBA history to win an NBA title, but they also were the second team to win Games 1 and 2 on the road in the NBA Finals, with the Chicago Bulls accomplishing this in the 1993 Finals, but they were the first team to sweep the NBA Finals after starting the series on the road for the first two games.

The Rockets entered that Orlando series as heavy underdogs, even though they were the defending NBA champions. The Rockets were the sixth seed after an up-and-down regular season, and the Magic were coming off a 60-win season and had taken down Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls on their way to the NBA Finals.

Hakeem Olajuwon, Clyde Drexler and the Rockets however had found their groove in the playoffs as they started to gel as a team after their first round defeat of the Utah Jazz in a tough five game series.

The Magic, however, were already being anointed as the next dynasty. But as we all know, that's not what happened as the Rockets won an overtime thriller in Game 1 before winning the next three games on their way to a clean sweep. That version of the Magic never returned to the NBA Finals.

There was another lower seed that swept the NBA Finals. That was the 1975 Golden State Warriors, who swept the Washington Bullets, winning the first game in Maryland, then two in California before winning Game 4 back in Maryland. Back then, the favored team had the option to play a 1-2-2-2 format.

Now in 2026, the Knicks have accomplished one of those feats by winning the first two games on the road after their one-point victory over the Spurs on Friday. The Knicks now try to be the third team in NBA history to sweep the Finals after starting on the road, joining the Double Clutch Rockets of 1995.

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