1978–79 Washington Bullets season

1978–79 Washington Bullets season
Eastern Conference Champions
Head coach	Dick Motta
Arena	Capital Centre
Results
Record	54–28 (.659)
Place	Division: 1st (Atlantic) Conference: 1st (Eastern)
Playoff finish	NBA Finals (Eliminated 1–4)
Stats @ Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
Television	WDCA
Radio	WJMD

The 1978–79 Washington Bullets won their 2nd consecutive Eastern Conference Championship, making it to the NBA Finals before losing to the Seattle SuperSonics. They finished the regular season with the best record in the NBA, at 54-28.

Coming off of their NBA Championship the previous season, the Bullets were transferred to the Atlantic Division.^[1] The Bullets would continue to remain one of the top teams in the league, as they captured the Atlantic Division championship with a league best record of 54–28. The Bullets ended the regular season losing 8 of their last 11 games, but rebounded in the playoffs with victories in both the Eastern Conference Semifinals and Eastern Conference Finals over the Atlanta Hawks and the San Antonio Spurs, respectively.

Offseason

NBA Draft

Round 1: Roger Phegley, Dave Corzine

Round 2: Terry Sykes (Never played in the NBA)

Round 4: Lawrence Boston

Roster

Depth chart

Pos.	Starter	Bench	Reserve
C	Wes Unseld		Dave Corzine
PF	Elvin Hayes	Mitch Kupchak
SF	Bob Dandridge	Greg Ballard
SG	Kevin Grevey	Charles Johnson	Roger Phegley
PG	Tom Henderson	Larry Wright	Phil Chenier

Regular season

Season standings

Atlantic Division	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Div
y-Washington Bullets	54	28	.659	–	31–10	23–18	11–5
x-Philadelphia 76ers	47	35	.573	7	31–10	16–25	9–7
x-New Jersey Nets	37	45	.451	17	25–16	12–29	7–9
New York Knicks	31	51	.378	23	23–18	8–33	7–9
Boston Celtics	29	53	.354	25	21–20	8–33	6–10

#	Eastern Conference
#	Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1	z-Washington Bullets	54	28	.659	–
2	y-San Antonio Spurs	48	34	.585	6
3	x-Philadelphia 76ers	47	35	.573	7
4	x-Houston Rockets	47	35	.573	7
5	x-Atlanta Hawks	46	36	.561	8
6	x-New Jersey Nets	37	45	.451	17

7	New York Knicks	31	51	.378	23
8	Cleveland Cavaliers	30	52	.366	24
8	Detroit Pistons	30	52	.366	24
10	Boston Celtics	29	53	.354	25
11	New Orleans Jazz	26	56	.317	28

Record vs. opponents

1978-79 NBA Records
Team	ATL	BOS	CHI	CLE	DEN	DET	GSW	HOU	IND	KCK	LAL	MIL	NJN	NOJ	NYK	PHI	PHO	POR	SAS	SDC	SEA	WAS
Atlanta	—	2–2	3–1	3–1	3–1	3–1	1–3	3–1	1–3	2–2	1–3	3–0	2–2	2–2	2–2	2–2	2–1	2–2	3–1	3–1	1–3	2–2
Boston	2–2	—	1–2	2–2	1–3	2–2	2–1	1–3	3–1	1–3	1–3	1–3	1–3	2–2	3–1	2–2	0–4	1–3	0–4	1–3	2–2	0–4
Chicago	1–3	2–1	—	1–3	2–2	2–2	3–1	2–2	2–2	0–4	1–3	1–3	2–2	2–2	3–1	1–3	1–3	4–0	0–3	0–4	0–4	1–3
Cleveland	1–3	2–2	3–1	—	1–2	1–3	2–1	2–2	1–3	1–3	2–2	1–3	3–1	2–2	2–2	2–2	0–4	0–4	0–4	2–2	2–2	0–4
Denver	1–3	3–1	2–2	2–1	—	2–2	4–0	1–3	3–1	1–3	3–1	2–2	4–0	3–1	3–1	0–3	3–1	1–3	3–1	2–2	3–1	1–3
Detroit	1–3	2–2	2–2	3–1	2–2	—	1–3	2–2	2–2	2–2	2–2	2–1	0–4	2–2	1–3	1–3	0–4	1–3	1–3	2–2	0–3	1–3
Golden State	3–1	1–2	1–3	1–2	0–4	3–1	—	2–2	2–2	2–2	1–3	2–2	1–3	3–1	3–1	3–1	1–3	2–2	1–3	1–3	3–1	2–2
Houston	1–3	3–1	2–2	2–2	3–1	2–2	2–2	—	0–4	3–1	2–1	2–2	3–1	4–0	4–0	0–4	2–2	3–1	3–1	2–1	2–2	2–2
Indiana	3–1	1–3	2–2	3–1	1–3	2–2	2–2	4–0	—	1–3	0–4	2–2	1–2	2–1	2–2	2–2	2–2	3–1	3–1	1–3	0–4	1–3
Kansas City	2–2	3–1	4–0	3–1	3–1	2–2	2–2	1–3	3–1	—	2–2	2–2	3–1	3–1	2–1	2–2	2–2	1–3	1–3	2–2	2–2	3–0
Los Angeles	3–1	3–1	3–1	2–2	1–3	2–2	3–1	1–2	4–0	2–2	—	3–1	2–2	2–2	3–0	1–3	2–2	2–2	2–2	2–2	2–2	2–2
Milwaukee	0–3	3–1	3–1	3–1	2–2	1–2	2–2	2–2	2–2	2–2	1–3	—	2–2	3–1	1–3	2–2	2–2	2–2	1–3	1–3	2–2	1–3
New Jersey	2–2	3–1	2–2	1–3	0–4	4–0	3–1	1–3	2–1	1–3	2–2	2–2	—	3–1	1–3	2–2	3–0	2–2	0–4	2–2	0–4	1–3
New Orleans	2–2	2–2	2–2	2–2	1–3	2–2	1–3	0–4	1–2	1–3	2–2	1–3	1–3	—	2–2	2–2	1–3	1–3	2–2	0–4	0–3	0–4
New York	2–2	1–3	1–3	2–2	1–3	3–1	1–3	0–4	2–2	1–2	0–3	3–1	3–1	2–2	—	2–2	0–4	1–3	1–3	2–2	2–2	1–3
Philadelphia	2–2	2–2	3–1	2–2	3–0	3–1	1–3	4–0	2–2	2–2	3–1	2–2	2–2	2–2	2–2	—	1–3	1–2	3–1	3–1	1–3	3–1
Phoenix	1–2	4–0	3–1	4–0	1–3	4–0	3–1	2–2	2–2	2–2	2–2	2–2	0–3	3–1	4–0	3–1	—	3–1	3–1	2–2	1–3	1–3
Portland	2–2	3–1	0–4	4–0	3–1	3–1	2–2	1–3	1–3	3–1	2–2	2–2	2–2	3–1	3–1	2–1	1–3	—	2–1	2–2	1–3	3–1
San Antonio	1–3	4–0	3–0	4–0	1–3	3–1	3–1	1–3	1–3	3–1	2–2	3–1	4–0	2–2	3–1	1–3	1–3	1–2	—	4–0	2–2	1–3
San Diego	1–3	3–1	4–0	2–2	2–2	2–2	3–1	1–2	3–1	2–2	2–2	3–1	2–2	4–0	2–2	1–3	2–2	2–2	0–4	—	2–2	0–3
Seattle	3–1	2–2	4–0	2–2	1–3	3–0	1–3	2–2	4–0	2–2	2–2	2–2	4–0	3–0	2–2	3–1	3–1	3–1	2–2	2–2	—	2–2
Washington	2–2	4–0	3–1	4–0	3–1	3–1	2–2	2–2	3–1	0–3	2–2	3–1	3–1	4–0	3–1	1–3	3–1	1–3	3–1	3–0	2–2	—

Player stats

Note: GP= Games played; REB= Rebounds; AST= Assists; STL = Steals; BLK = Blocks; PTS = Points; AVG = Average

Player	GP	REB	AST	STL	BLK	PTS	AVG

Playoffs

East First Round

The Bullets had a first round bye.

East Conference Semifinals

In the conference semifinal round of the playoffs, the Bullets needed 7 games to beat the Atlanta Hawks. The Bullets nearly lost the series as they had a 3–1 series lead.^[1]

(1) Washington Bullets vs. (5) Atlanta Hawks: Bullets win series 4–3

Game 1 @ Washington: Washington 103, Atlanta 89
Game 2 @ Washington: Atlanta 107, Washington 99
Game 3 @ Atlanta: Washington 89, Atlanta 77
Game 4 @ Atlanta: Washington 120, Atlanta 118 (OT)
Game 5 @ Washington: Atlanta 107, Washington 103
Game 6 @ Atlanta: Atlanta 104, Washington 86
Game 7 @ Washington: Washington 100, Atlanta 94

East Conference Finals

In the Eastern Finals, the Bullets would find themselves down 3 games to 1 facing the San Antonio Spurs. The Bullets would rally to win the next 2 games and force a 7th game at home. In Game 7 the Bullets would rally again. They overcame a fourth-quarter deficit to beat the Spurs 107–105.^[1]

(1) Washington Bullets vs. (2) San Antonio Spurs: Bullets win series 4–3

Game 1 @ Washington: San Antonio 118, Washington 97
Game 2 @ Washington: Washington 115, San Antonio 95
Game 3 @ San Antonio: San Antonio 116, Washington 114
Game 4 @ San Antonio: San Antonio 118, Washington 102
Game 5 @ Washington: Washington 107, San Antonio 103
Game 6 @ San Antonio: Washington 108, San Antonio 100
Game 7 @ Washington: Washington 107, San Antonio 105

NBA Finals

The triumph would set up a rematch with the Seattle SuperSonics in the NBA Finals. In the Finals, the Bullets would squeak out a close victory in Game 1 by a score of 99–97. However, the Sonics would rally to win the next 4 and take the series in 5 games.^[1]

Game	Date	Home Team	Result	Road Team
Game 1	May 20	Washington	99–97	Seattle
Game 2	May 24	Washington	82–92	Seattle
Game 3	May 27	Seattle	105–95	Washington
Game 4	May 29	Seattle	114–112	Washington
Game 5	June 1	Washington	93–97	Seattle

SuperSonics win series 4–1

Awards and honors

References

1 2 3 4 Washington Wizards (1963–Present)

Bullets on Basketball Reference

1978–79 NBA season by team

Eastern

Atlantic	Boston New Jersey New York Philadelphia Washington

Central	Atlanta Cleveland Detroit Houston New Orleans San Antonio

Western

Midwest	Chicago Denver Indiana Kansas City Milwaukee

Pacific	Golden State Los Angeles Phoenix Portland San Diego Seattle

Chicago Packers / Zephyrs–Baltimore / Capital / Washington Bullets–Washington Wizards seasons

1960s

1970s

1977–78

1980s

1990s

2000s

2010s

Bold indicates NBA Finals victory

Washington Wizards

Founded in 1961 Formerly the Chicago Packers (1961–1962), the Chicago Zephyrs (1962–1963), the Baltimore Bullets (1963–1973), the Capital Bullets (1973–1974), and the Washington Bullets (1974–1997) Based in Washington, D.C.

Franchise	Franchise Expansion Draft All-time roster Draft history Head coaches Seasons Current season

Arenas	International Amphitheatre Chicago Coliseum Baltimore Civic Center Cole Field House Capital Centre/US Airways Arena Verizon Center

General Managers	Ferry Nash Unseld Grunfeld

D-League affiliate	None

Administration	Ted Leonsis (Owner) Ernie Grunfeld (President & GM of Basketball Ops.) Scott Brooks (Head Coach)

Retired Numbers	10 11 25 41

NBA Championships (1)	1978

Eastern Conference Championships (4)	1971 1975 1978 1979

Culture and lore	Wes Unseld 1975 championship upset It ain't over till the fat lady sings The Big E Abe Pollin Earl the Pearl Agent Zero Robin Ficker

Media	TV WDCW Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic The Comcast Network Radio WJFK-FM Announcers Steve Buckhantz Phil Chenier Dave Johnson Glenn Consor

Sports teams based in the Washington, D.C. area

Baseball	MLB Washington Nationals EL Bowie Baysox CL Frederick Keys Potomac Nationals ALPB Southern Maryland Blue Crabs

Basketball	NBA Washington Wizards WNBA Washington Mystics

Football	NFL Washington Redskins AFL Washington Valor WFA D.C. Divas

Hockey	NHL Washington Capitals

Soccer	MLS D.C. United NWSL Washington Spirit

Roller derby	WFTDA DC Rollergirls

Rugby league	USA Rugby League Washington D.C. Slayers

Tennis	WTT Washington Kastles

College athletics	NCAA Div. I American Georgetown George Mason George Washington Howard Maryland Mount St. Mary's Navy NCAA Div. II UDC NCAA Div. III Catholic University Gallaudet University Marymount University

See also: Sports in Washington, D.C.

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