1977–78 Washington Bullets season

The 1977–78 NBA season was the team's 17th season in the NBA and their 5th season in the city of Washington, D.C..[1] It would prove to be their most successful season, as they would win their first and only NBA championship as of 2021. In the NBA Finals, they defeated the Seattle SuperSonics in seven games.

1977–78 Washington Bullets season
NBA champions
Conference champions
Head coachDick Motta
ArenaCapital Centre
Results
Record44–38 (.537)
PlaceDivision: 2nd (Central)
Conference: 3rd (Eastern)
Playoff finishNBA Champions
(Defeated SuperSonics 4–3)
Stats @ Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
TelevisionWDCA–TV 20
(Jim Karvellas, Gus Johnson)
RadioWTOP–AM 1500
(Frank Herzog)

The Bullets got off to a slow start in the regular season, losing 6 of their first 10 games. On January 13, the Bullets beat the defending Champion Portland Trail Blazers to improve to 24–15, capping an 18–5 run over 23 games.[2] Injuries would begin to have an effect on the team as the Bullets struggled, as they would lose 13 of their next 18 games. Hovering a few games above .500 for the rest of the season, the Bullets managed to make the playoffs with a 44–38 record.[2] This would be considered the worst team in NBA history to win a championship with its record of 44–38. The 1968–69 Boston Celtics, 1974–75 Golden State Warriors, 1976–77 Portland Trail Blazers, and 1994–95 Houston Rockets are the only other NBA championship teams to have won below 50 games in non-lockout seasons since 1958; all of them won more than 44 games.

Offseason

NBA Draft
Main article: 1977 NBA Draft
Round Pick Player Nationality College/HS/Club Team
1 1 Greg Ballard (SF) (from Atlanta)  United States Oregon
1 11 Bo Ellis (F)  United States Marquette
1 1 Phil Walker (G)  United States Millersville
3 57 Steve Puidokas (from Chicago)  United States Washington State
3 61 Jerry Schellenberg  United States Wake Forest
4 83 David Reavis  United States Georgia
5 105 Bruce Parkinson  United States Purdue
6 127 Ernie Wansley  United States Virginia Tech
7 147 Calvin Brown  United States American
8 166 Pat McKinley  United States Towson State

Roster
Roster listing
Washington Bullets roster
Players Coaches
Pos.No.NameHeightWeightDOB (YYYY-MM-DD)From
F 42 Ballard, Greg 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Oregon
G 45 Chenier, Phil 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 180 lb (82 kg) California
SF 10 Dandridge, Bob 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Norfolk State
F 35 Grevey, Kevin 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Kentucky
G 14 Henderson, Tom 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Hawaiʻi
C 11 Hayes, Elvin 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 235 lb (107 kg) Houston
PF 25 Kupchak, Mitch 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 230 lb (104 kg) North Carolina
G 15 Johnson, Charles 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 170 lb (77 kg) California
C 44 Pace, Joe 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Coppin State
F 41 Unseld, Wes 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 245 lb (111 kg) Louisville
G 32 Wright, Larry 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 160 lb (73 kg) Grambling State
Head coach
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured

Season standings
Central Division W L PCT GB Home Road Div
y-San Antonio Spurs 5230.634–32–920–2115–5
x-Washington Bullets 4438.537829–1215–2614–6
x-Cleveland Cavaliers 4339.524927–1416–259–11
x-Atlanta Hawks 4141.5001129–1212–298–12
New Orleans Jazz 3943.4761327–1412–298–12
Houston Rockets 2854.3412421-207-346–14
# Eastern Conference
Team W L PCT GB
1 z-Philadelphia 76ers5527.671–
2 y-San Antonio Spurs5230.6343
3 x-Washington Bullets4438.53711
4 x-Cleveland Cavaliers4339.52412
5 x-New York Knicks4339.52412
6 x-Atlanta Hawks4141.50014
7 New Orleans Jazz3943.47616
8 Boston Celtics3250.39023
9 Houston Rockets2854.34127
10 Buffalo Braves2755.32928
11 New Jersey Nets2458.29331


Regular season

Record vs. opponents
1977–78 NBA records
Team ATL BOS BUF CHI CLE DEN DET GSW HOU IND KCK LAL MIL NJN NOJ NYK PHI PHO POR SAS SEA WAS
Atlanta —2–23–11–31–31–32–21–33–13–12–13–12–23–12–22–22–23–11–31–32–11–3
Boston 2–2—3–11–31–31–31–32–22–22–12–21–23–13–12–22–20–42–21–30–40–41–3
Buffalo 1–31–3—3–11–31–31–30–33–11–31–21–31–32–22–23–11–30–41–31–31–31–3
Chicago 3–13–11–3—3–12–22–21–33–13–10–42–21–31–22–21–33–02–21–32–22–22–1
Cleveland 3–13–13–11–3—3–12–22–22–22–12–22–23–13–12–23–11–31–20–40–43–12–2
Denver 3–13–13–12–21–3—2–22–23–02–22–23–13–13–13–11–31–32–23–12–11–33–1
Detroit 2–23–13–12–22–22–2—2–23–11–31–32–22–23–13–00–40–42–21–31–31–32–2
Golden State 3–12–23–03–12–22–22–2—2–13–13–10–42–23–10–42–21–32–21–33–12–22–2
Houston 1–32–21–31–32–20–31–31–2—3–12–21–31–32–21–32–22–21–32–21–30–41–3
Indiana 1–31–23–11–31–22–23–11–31–3—2–21–30–42–22–21–32–21–31–31–31–33–1
Kansas City 1–22–22–14–02–22–23–11–32–22–2—2–20–42–22–20–41–30–40–40–41–32–2
Los Angeles 1–32–13–12–22–21–32–24–03–13–12–2—3–14–02–13–12–21–30–42–21–32–2
Milwaukee 2–21–33–13–11–31–32–22–23–14–04–01–3—3–12–13–11–21–31–32–21–33–1
New Jersey 1–31–32–22–11–31–31–31–32–22–22–20–41–3—0–41–30–42–20–30–42–22–2
New Orleans 2–22–22–22–22–21–31–34–03–12–22–21–21–24–0—1–32–21–33–11–32–20–4
New York 2–22–21–33–11–33–13–02–22–23–14–01–31–33–13–1—1–31–31–32–22–12–2
Philadelphia 2–24–03–11–33–13–14–03–12–22–23–12–22–14–02–23–1—2–12–23–13–12–2
Phoenix 1–32–24–02–22–12–22–22–23–13–14–03–13–12–23–13–11–2—1–32–22–22–2
Portland 3–13–13–13–14–01–33–13–12–23–14–04–03–13–11–33–02–23–1—2–23–12–1
San Antonio 3–14–03–12–24–01–22–11–33–13–14–02–22–24–03–12–21–32–22–2—2–22–2
Seattle 1–24–03–12–21–33–13–12–24–03–13–13–13–12–22–11–31–32–21–32–2—1–3
Washington 3–13–13–11–22–21–32–22–23–11–32–22–21–32–24–02–22–22–21–22–23–1—

Game log

Key:   Win   Loss

Notes:

a All times are EASTERN time. (UTC–4 and UTC–5 starting October 30)

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
Elvin Hayes81107514996159159819.7
Bob Dandridge7544228710144145019.3
Mitch Kupchak67460712842106615.9
Kevin Grevey812901556117125315.5
Phil Chenier361027336950914.1
Tom Henderson75193406931585711.4
Larry Wright7010226068156429.2
Charles Johnson3993823113248.3
Wes Unseld8095532698456077.6
Greg Ballard762666230133724.9
Phil Walker4052541451784.5
Joe Pace491342312241913.9
Total82416419486683869047110.3

Playoffs

East First Round

As the playoffs began, the Bullets began to get healthy. They started to play solid basketball at the right time as they swept the Atlanta Hawks in the first round.

(3) Washington Bullets vs. (6) Atlanta Hawks: Bullets win series 2–0

  • Game 1 @ Washington: Washington 103, Atlanta 94
  • Game 2 @ Atlanta: Washington 107, Atlanta 103 (OT)

East Conference Semifinals

In the second round, the Bullets stunned the Central Division champion San Antonio Spurs in 6 games.[2] Game 6 started out oddly as Spurs guard Mike Gale was forced to a wear an inside out Bullets uniform after losing his uniform at the airport.[2] In the 3rd period the Spurs would make a run and take a 62–61 lead when the lights went out at the Cap Centre. When the lights came back on the Bullets would come out shooting on the way to a 103–100 win.[2]

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

  • Game 1 @ San Antonio: San Antonio 114, Washington 103
  • Game 2 @ San Antonio: Washington 121, San Antonio 117
  • Game 3 @ Washington: Washington 118, San Antonio 105
  • Game 4 @ Washington: Washington 98, San Antonio 95
  • Game 5 @ San Antonio: San Antonio 116, Washington 105
  • Game 6 @ Washington: Washington 103, San Antonio 100

East Conference Finals

In the Eastern Finals, the Bullets took a 3–1 series lead against the defending Eastern Conference champion Philadelphia 76ers. The Bullets lost Game 5 on the road and returned home to play Game 6. In the closing seconds, Wes Unseld would rebound a shot of his own miss to give the Bullets a dramatic 101–99 victory.

(1) Philadelphia 76ers vs. (3) Washington Bullets: Bullets win series 4–2

  • Game 1 @ Philadelphia: Washington 122, Philadelphia 117 (OT)
  • Game 2 @ Philadelphia: Philadelphia 110, Washington 104
  • Game 3 @ Washington: Washington 123, Philadelphia 108
  • Game 4 @ Washington: Washington 121, Philadelphia 105
  • Game 5 @ Philadelphia: Philadelphia 107, Washington 94
  • Game 6 @ Washington: Washington 101, Philadelphia 99

NBA Finals

After being swept in their previous two trips to the NBA Finals (by Milwaukee in 1971 and Golden State in 1975), the Bullets lost Game 1 on the road against the Seattle SuperSonics, and a 19-point lead vanished in the process.[2] In Game 4, the Bullets rose to the occasion beating the Sonics 120–116 to even the series at 2 games apiece. After losing Game 5 in Seattle, the Bullets kept their hopes alive with a dominating 117–82 win at the Capital Centre.[2] Game 7 returned to Seattle and the Bullets were a heavy underdog. Kevin Grevey suffered a sprained wrist above his shooting hand, and Bob Dandridge was forced to see some action at guard. Dandridge would play strongly and scored 19 points to tie with Charles Johnson, who hit a half court shot at the end of the 3rd quarter, for the team high. Wes Unseld scored 15 points while pulling down 9 rebounds as the Bullets emerged with a 105–99 victory to win their first NBA Championship.[2]

Main article: 1978 NBA Finals

(E3) Washington Bullets vs. (W4) Seattle SuperSonics: Bullets win series 4–3

  • Game 1 @ Seattle: Seattle 106, Washington 102
  • Game 2 @ Washington: Washington 106, Seattle 98
  • Game 3 @ Washington: Seattle 93, Washington 92
  • Game 4 @ Seattle: Washington 120, Seattle 116 (OT)
  • Game 5 @ Seattle: Seattle 98, Washington 94
  • Game 6 @ Washington: Washington 117, Seattle 82
  • Game 7 @ Seattle: Washington 105, Seattle 99

Game log

Key:   Win   Loss

Notes:

a All times are EASTERN time. (UTC–3 and UTC–4 starting April 30)

Playoffs 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
Elvin Hayes2127943325245721.8
Bob Dandridge1912374301440221.1
Kevin Grevey21614211332515.5
Charles Johnson21534830021510.2
Mitch Kupchak21127224321310.1
Tom Henderson21471062752029.6
Wes Unseld18216791771699.4
Larry Wright2131671721718.1
Greg Ballard19791893743.9
Joe Pace920116252.8
Phil Walker4220061.5
Total211038502178952259114.1

Awards and honors

References
  1. 1977-78 Washington Bullets
  2. Washington Wizards (1963–Present)
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