Matt Maloney went on to have a very successful rookie season. Matt was the only undrafted player to be on the '96-'97 NBA All-Star Schick Rookie Team, scoring 5 points. Matt ranked among the top 10 rookies in field goals made, steals, assists, minutes played, 3-point field goals made and points per game. He was averaging 9.4 points, 3.7 assists, and 1.00 steal per game and his shooting percentage was .441, for the season he grabbed 160 rebounds, had 82 steals, made 77 percent of his free throws, had less than 1.5 turn-overs a game (a vital statistic for the Rockets) and achieved 2 double-doubles. He ranked 4th on the team in assists, 5th in steals and 6th in scoring. Matt ended the regular season with a rush, averaging 18 points in the final 4 games and hitting almost everything he threw up from behind the 3-point line. Through the season Matt distributed the ball effectively and learned to take and make the open shots that came from opponents double-teaming down in the post. He showed some great defensive footwork and rarely let his man get an open path to the hoop. The Rockets ended the regular season with 57 wins and Matt was also honored to be selected to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team at the end of the year.

Matt broke the rookie record for the most 3-pointers for a rookie set in the '95-'96 season, although Kittles from the NJ Nets had more. This is still a huge accomplishment, the record set in '95-'96 being 133 and Matt passed that a couple of games before the season ended. Matt ended the season with 154 3-pointers out of 351 tries, Kittles with 158. Matt was on a 3-point tear averaging 40.4 percent behind the 3-point arc, 3rd best in Rockets history, and tied the franchise record making a 3-pointer in 23 consecutive games, which is held by Sleepy Floyd. Matt will have to wait until next season to see if he can improve on that record since the play-offs don't count. Matt also broke the franchise rookie record on April 18 accumlating 6 3-pointers and aquiring career highs for points (24) and minutes played (44) in an overtime win (112-102) against the Dallas Mavericks. He ranked 14th in the NBA in his 3-point field goal percentage (.404) and ranked 15th in the NBA in actual 3-point field goals made with 154.