1978–79 NBA season | |
---|---|
League | National Basketball Association |
Sport | Basketball |
TV partner/s | CBS |
Regular season | |
Season MVP | Moses Malone (Houston) |
Top scorer | George Gervin (San Antonio) |
Playoffs | |
Eastern champions | Washington Bullets |
Eastern runners-up | San Antonio Spurs |
Western champions | Seattle SuperSonics |
Western runners-up | Phoenix Suns |
Finals | |
Finals champions | Seattle SuperSonics |
Runners-up | Washington Bullets |
Finals MVP | Dennis Johnson (Seattle) |
NBA seasons | |
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.
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Notable occurrences
- The Buffalo Braves move from Buffalo, New York to San Diego, California and become the San Diego Clippers
- The Detroit Pistons change conferences, moving from the Midwest Division of the Western Conference to the Central Division of the Eastern Conference, where they remain today.
- The NBA adopts a three-official system simliar to the one used in college basketball on a one-year trial basis. The experiment is scrapped for the 1979-80 season, but returns permanently in 1988-89.
- The 1979 NBA All-Star Game was played at the Pontiac Silverdome in Pontiac, Michigan, with the West defeating the East 134-129 in overtime. David Thompson of the Denver Nuggets wins the game's MVP award.
- The Jazz play their final season in New Orleans, Louisiana, before moving to Salt Lake City, Utah. It would be 23 years before New Orleans received another NBA franchise.
Final standings
Eastern Conference
Team | W | L | PCT. | GB |
---|---|---|---|---|
Washington Bullets | 54 | 28 | .659 | - |
Philadelphia 76ers | 47 | 35 | .573 | 7 |
New Jersey Nets | 37 | 45 | .451 | 17 |
New York Knicks | 31 | 51 | .378 | 23 |
Boston Celtics | 29 | 53 | .354 | 25 |
Team | W | L | PCT. | GB |
---|---|---|---|---|
San Antonio Spurs | 48 | 34 | .585 | - |
Houston Rockets | 47 | 35 | .573 | 1 |
Atlanta Hawks | 46 | 36 | .561 | 2 |
Detroit Pistons | 30 | 52 | .366 | 18 |
Cleveland Cavaliers | 30 | 52 | .366 | 18 |
New Orleans Jazz | 26 | 56 | .317 | 22 |
Western Conference
Team | W | L | PCT. | GB |
---|---|---|---|---|
Kansas City Kings | 48 | 34 | .585 | - |
Denver Nuggets | 47 | 35 | .573 | 1 |
Indiana Pacers | 38 | 44 | .463 | 10 |
Milwaukee Bucks | 38 | 44 | .463 | 10 |
Chicago Bulls | 31 | 51 | .378 | 17 |
Team | W | L | PCT. | GB |
---|---|---|---|---|
Seattle SuperSonics C | 52 | 30 | .634 | - |
Phoenix Suns | 50 | 32 | .610 | 2 |
Los Angeles Lakers | 47 | 35 | .573 | 5 |
Portland Trail Blazers | 45 | 37 | .549 | 7 |
San Diego Clippers | 43 | 39 | .524 | 9 |
Golden State Warriors | 38 | 44 | .463 | 14 |
C - NBA Champions
1978-79 NBA statistics leaders
Category | Player | Team | Stat |
---|---|---|---|
Points per game | George Gervin | San Antonio Spurs | 29.6 |
Rebounds per game | Moses Malone | Houston Rockets | 17.6 |
Assists per game | Kevin Porter | Detroit Pistons | 13.4 |
Steals per game | M.L. Carr | Detroit Pistons | 2.5 |
Blocks per game | Kareem Abdul-Jabbar | Los Angeles Lakers | 4.0 |
FG% | Cedric Maxwell | Boston Celtics | 58.4 |
FT% | Rick Barry | Houston Rockets | 94.7 |
NBA awards
- Most Valuable Player: Moses Malone, Houston Rockets
- Rookie of the Year: Phil Ford, Kansas City Kings
- Coach of the Year: Cotton Fitzsimmons, Kansas City Kings
- All-NBA First Team:
- All-NBA Rookie Team:
- NBA All-Defensive First Team:
- NBA All-Defensive Second Team:
Note: All information on this page were obtained on the History section on NBA.com
See also
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