1978–79 NBA season
LeagueNational Basketball Association
SportBasketball
DurationOctober 13, 1978 – April 8, 1979
April 10 – May 18, 1979 (Playoffs)
May 20 – June 1, 1979 (Finals)
Number of games82
Number of teams22
TV partner(s)CBS
Draft
Top draft pickMychal Thompson
Picked byPortland Trail Blazers
Regular season
Top seedWashington Bullets
Season MVPMoses Malone (Houston)
Top scorerGeorge Gervin (San Antonio)
Playoffs
Eastern championsWashington Bullets
  Eastern runners-upSan Antonio Spurs
Western championsSeattle SuperSonics
  Western runners-upPhoenix Suns
Finals
ChampionsSeattle SuperSonics
  Runners-upWashington Bullets
Finals MVPDennis Johnson (Seattle)

The 1978–79 NBA season was the 33rd season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Seattle SuperSonics winning the NBA Championship, beating the Washington Bullets 4 games to 1 in the NBA Finals, a rematch of the previous year's Finals, but with the opposite result.

Notable occurrences

Coaching changes
Offseason
Team 1977–78 coach 1978–79 coach
Buffalo Braves/San Diego Clippers Cotton Fitzsimmons Gene Shue
Chicago Bulls Ed Badger Larry Costello
Scotty Robertson
Detroit Pistons Bob Kauffman Dick Vitale
Kansas City Kings Larry Staverman Cotton Fitzsimmons
In-season
Team Outgoing coach Incoming coach
Boston Celtics Satch Sanders Dave Cowens
Chicago Bulls Larry Costello Scotty Robertson
Denver Nuggets Larry Brown Donnie Walsh
New York Knicks Willis Reed Red Holzman

Final standings

By division

W L PCT GB Home Road Div
y-Washington Bullets 5428.65931–1023–1811–5
x-Philadelphia 76ers 4735.573731–1016–259–7
x-New Jersey Nets 3745.4511725–1612–297–9
New York Knicks 3151.3782323–188–337–9
Boston Celtics 2953.3542521–208–336–10
W L PCT GB Home Road Div
y-San Antonio Spurs 4834.58529–1219–2211–9
x-Houston Rockets 4735.573130–1117–2412–8
x-Atlanta Hawks 4636.561234–712–2914–6
Cleveland Cavaliers 3052.3661820–2110–316–14
Detroit Pistons 3052.3661822–198–339–11
New Orleans Jazz 2656.3172221–208–339–15
W L PCT GB Home Road Div
y-Kansas City Kings 4834.58532–916–2512–4
x-Denver Nuggets 4735.573129–1218–238–8
Indiana Pacers 3844.4631025–1613–286–10
Milwaukee Bucks 3844.4631028–1310–319–7
Chicago Bulls 3151.3781719–2212–295–11
W L PCT GB Home Road Div
y-Seattle SuperSonics 5230.63431–1021–2011–9
x-Phoenix Suns 5032.610232–918–2311–9
x-Los Angeles Lakers 4735.573531–1016–2511–9
x-Portland Trail Blazers 4537.549733–812–298–12
San Diego Clippers 4339.524929–1214–2711–9
Golden State Warriors 3844.4631423–1815–268–12

By conference

#
Team W L PCT GB
1 z-Washington Bullets5428.659
2 y-San Antonio Spurs4834.5856
3 x-Philadelphia 76ers4735.5737
4 x-Houston Rockets4735.5737
5 x-Atlanta Hawks4636.5618
6 x-New Jersey Nets3745.45117
7 New York Knicks3151.37823
8 Cleveland Cavaliers3052.36624
8 Detroit Pistons3052.36624
10 Boston Celtics2953.35425
11 New Orleans Jazz2656.31728
#
Team W L PCT GB
1 z-Seattle SuperSonics5230.634
2 y-Kansas City Kings4834.5854
3 x-Phoenix Suns5032.6102
4 x-Denver Nuggets4735.5735
5 x-Los Angeles Lakers4735.5735
6 x-Portland Trail Blazers4537.5497
7 San Diego Clippers4339.5249
8 Indiana Pacers3844.46314
9 Milwaukee Bucks3844.46314
10 Golden State Warriors3844.46314
11 Chicago Bulls3151.37821

Notes

  • z, y – division champions
  • x – clinched playoff spot

Playoffs

Teams in bold advanced to the next round. The numbers to the left of each team indicate the team's seeding in its conference, and the numbers to the right indicate the number of games the team won in that round. The division champions are marked by an asterisk. Home court advantage does not necessarily belong to the higher-seeded team, but instead the team with the better regular season record; teams enjoying the home advantage are shown in italics.

First Round Conference Semifinals Conference Finals NBA Finals
E1 Washington* 4
E4 Houston 0 E5 Atlanta 3
E5 Atlanta 2 Eastern ConferenceE1 Washington* 4
E2 San Antonio* 3
E3 Philadelphia 3
E3 Philadelphia 2 E2 San Antonio* 4
E6 New Jersey 0 E1 Washington* 1
W1 Seattle* 4
W1 Seattle* 4
W4 Denver 1 W5 Los Angeles 1
W5 Los Angeles 2 Western ConferenceW1 Seattle* 4
W3 Phoenix 3
W3 Phoenix 4
W3 Phoenix 2 W2 Kansas City* 1
W6 Portland 1
  • * Division winner
  • Bold Series winner
  • Italic Team with home-court advantage

Statistics leaders

CategoryPlayerTeamStat
Points per gameGeorge GervinSan Antonio Spurs29.6
Rebounds per gameMoses MaloneHouston Rockets17.6
Assists per gameKevin PorterDetroit Pistons13.4
Steals per gameM.L. CarrDetroit Pistons2.46
Blocks per gameKareem Abdul-JabbarLos Angeles Lakers3.95
FG%Cedric MaxwellBoston Celtics.584
FT%Rick BarryHouston Rockets.947

NBA awards

See also

References

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