Heading into the conference semifinals, Phoenix was on a roll - a giant Kaiser-sized roll, to be exact. But starting out on the road, against the Midwest Division Champion Houston Rockets and their newly-named league MVP Hakeem Olajuwon, the Suns would have their hands full. Or so everyone thought.
Behind a 21-point, 12-rebound showing from Barkley, the Suns cruised to a 91-87 Game 1 win at the Houston Summit. A far from sold out Houston Summit, it should be noted. Game 2 would be more of the same, with the exception of a closer-to-capacity crowd, filled in by some 350-plus Suns fans who were flown into Texas by Colangelo. The small sections of purple-clad fans were in for a treat as they cheered the Suns on to another win, this time overcoming a fourth-quarter deficit of 20 points to pull out a win in OT.
The Suns appeared to be in good position heading home. There was even talk of another sweep among fans in Phoenix. But those who had watched Olajuwon throughout the season knew such sentiments were painfully premature.
The Rockets marched into America West Arena and marched right back out with victories in Games 3 and 4. Despite back-to-back 38-point outbursts from KJ, the Rockets grabbed the momentum with a wrenching grip, winning both contests by double digits.
The teams split the next two games, each winning on its home floor, setting up a climactic Game 7 in Houston.
But the injury bug reared its ugly head for the Suns once again. A painful groin injury, suffered earlier in the series, prevented Barkley from performing his usual heroics in the clutch. Not that his effort wasn't heroic enough. Sir Charles and the rest of the club left everything they had on the floor - but it was just short of enough. Olajuwon poured in 37 points and grabbed 17 boards in a 104-94 Suns loss.
After their 4-3 series win, the Rockets went on to win their first of two consecutive NBA Championships and the Suns, meanwhile, began looking ahead to '94-95.
