How Houston Rockets Milestones is played

Every card in this deck carries a hidden value on the same scale — release years and dates — and the run is one long sorting problem. The first card is dealt face up. Each card after it goes into the gap where you think it belongs, and the value only shows once it lands. Get it wrong three times and the run ends with whatever you had placed.

This deck can also be shuffled together with any other deck measured in release years and dates — tick several on the deck tree to build one longer timeline out of them.

What's in the deck

24 of the 24 cards you could be dealt. The values stay hidden until you place them.

Franchise debuts and drafts Elvin Hayes The San Diego Rockets take the top pick in their first year
Team relocates to Houston The Rockets move to Texas for good
Made the playoffs for the first time in Houston The franchise reaches the postseason in Texas
Reached the Eastern Conference Finals Made a deep run before realignment sent them west
Moses Malone named league MVP The young center wins his first MVP award
Reached the NBA Finals behind Moses Malone The center carries a sub-.500 team past three rivals to the Finals
Drafted Ralph Sampson first overall Took the Virginia big man with the top pick
Drafted Hakeem Olajuwon first overall Selected the Houston center to build the 'Twin Towers'
Reached the Finals with the Twin Towers Sampson and Olajuwon fall to the Celtics
Won the first title in franchise history Hakeem earns MVP and Finals MVP beating the Knicks
Won back-to-back titles as a 6-seed A midseason Drexler trade fuels a sweep of Orlando
Signed Charles Barkley Added the star forward to chase another title
Signed Scottie Pippen Formed a veteran trio with Hakeem and Barkley
Steve Francis becomes the new face of the team The rookie guard arrives to lead the post-Hakeem era
Drafted Yao Ming first overall Selected the Chinese center with the top pick
Toyota Center opens The Rockets leave The Summit for a new downtown arena
Traded for Tracy McGrady Paired the scoring wing with Yao Ming
Won 22 straight games Reeled off one of the longest win streaks in NBA history
Traded for James Harden Acquired the star guard from Oklahoma City
Signed Dwight Howard in free agency Added the star center alongside Harden
Reached the Western Conference Finals Harden leads a run that falls to Golden State
James Harden named MVP of a 65-win team The guard tops the league after a record scoring season
Traded for Russell Westbrook Reunited Harden with his former OKC teammate
Traded James Harden to the Nets The star guard forces his way out of Houston