1977–78 NBA season

1977–78 NBA season
League	National Basketball Association
Sport	Basketball
TV partner/s	CBS
Regular season
Season MVP	Bill Walton (Portland)
Top scorer	George Gervin (San Antonio)
Playoffs
Eastern champions	Washington Bullets
Eastern runners-up	Philadelphia 76ers
Western champions	Seattle SuperSonics
Western runners-up	Denver Nuggets
Finals
Finals champions	Washington Bullets
Runners-up	Seattle SuperSonics
Finals MVP	Wes Unseld (Washington)
NBA seasons
← 1976–77	1978–79 →

The 1977–78 NBA season was the 32nd season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Washington Bullets winning the NBA Championship, beating the Seattle SuperSonics 4 games to 3 in the NBA Finals.

Notable occurrences

• The New York Nets move from Uniondale, New York to Piscataway, New Jersey, and are renamed the New Jersey Nets.
• The 1978 NBA All-Star Game was played at the Omni Coliseum in Atlanta, Georgia, with the East beating the West 133-125. Randy Smith of the Buffalo Braves wins the game's MVP award.
• The defending champion Portland Trail Blazers went off to a 50-10 start and looked poised to repeat, but Bill Walton broke his foot (the first of the numerous major injuries that radically shortened his career) and was out for the remainder of the season. The Blazers, hurt by Walton's absence and by other key injuries, faded to an 8-14 finish and lost to the Sonics in the Western Conference semifinals.
• Throughout the 1977–78 season, CBS broadcast NBA games during the regular season and the playoffs. During halftime of those games, they showed a pre-taped H–O–R–S–E tournament pitting players from the NBA against each other. It featured, among others, Pete Maravich, Bob McAdoo, Kevin Grevey, and George Gervin. Maravich won the contest, but H–O–R–S–E featuring NBA players would not be re-instituted for 31 more years (until the 2009 All-Star Weekend).

Final standings

By division

Atlantic Division	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Div
y-Philadelphia 76ers	55	27	.671	–	37–4	18–23	14–2
x-New York Knicks	43	39	.524	12	29–12	14–27	7–9
Boston Celtics	32	50	.390	23	24–17	8–33	8–8
Buffalo Braves	27	55	.329	28	20–21	7–34	7–9
New Jersey Nets	24	58	.293	31	18–23	6–35	4–12

Central Division	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Div
y-San Antonio Spurs	52	30	.634	–	32–9	20–21	15–5
x-Washington Bullets	44	38	.537	8	29–12	15–26	14–6
x-Cleveland Cavaliers	43	39	.524	9	27–14	16–25	9–11
x-Atlanta Hawks	41	41	.500	11	29–12	12–29	8–12
New Orleans Jazz	39	43	.476	13	27–14	12–29	8–12
Houston Rockets	28	54	.341	24	21-20	7-34	6–14

Midwest Division	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Div
y-Denver Nuggets	48	34	.585	–	33–8	15–26	11–9
x-Milwaukee Bucks	44	38	.537	4	28–13	16–25	14–6
Chicago Bulls	40	42	.488	8	29–12	11–30	8–12
Detroit Pistons	38	44	.463	10	24–17	14–27	8–12
Indiana Pacers	31	51	.378	17	21–20	10–31	8–12
Kansas City Kings	31	51	.378	17	22–19	9–32	11–9

Pacific Division	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Div
y-Portland Trail Blazers	58	24	.707	–	36–5	22–19	13–3
x-Phoenix Suns	49	33	.598	9	34–7	15–26	8–8
x-Seattle SuperSonics	47	35	.573	11	31–10	16–25	8–8
x-Los Angeles Lakers	45	37	.549	13	29–12	16–25	6–10
Golden State Warriors	43	39	.524	15	30–11	13–28	5–11

By conference

#	Eastern Conference
	Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1	z-Philadelphia 76ers	55	27	.671	–
2	y-San Antonio Spurs	52	30	.634	3
3	x-Washington Bullets	44	38	.537	11
4	x-Cleveland Cavaliers	43	39	.524	12
5	x-New York Knicks	43	39	.524	12
6	x-Atlanta Hawks	41	41	.500	14
7	New Orleans Jazz	39	43	.476	16
8	Boston Celtics	32	50	.390	23
9	Houston Rockets	28	54	.341	27
10	Buffalo Braves	27	55	.329	28
11	New Jersey Nets	24	58	.293	31

#	Western Conference
	Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1	z-Portland Trail Blazers	58	24	.707	–
2	y-Denver Nuggets	48	34	.585	10
3	x-Phoenix Suns	49	33	.598	9
4	x-Seattle SuperSonics	47	35	.573	11
5	x-Los Angeles Lakers	45	37	.549	13
6	x-Milwaukee Bucks	44	38	.537	14
7	Golden State Warriors	43	39	.524	15
8	Chicago Bulls	40	42	.488	18
9	Detroit Pistons	38	44	.463	20
10	Indiana Pacers	31	51	.378	27
10	Kansas City Kings	31	51	.378	27

Notes

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

Statistics leaders

Category	Player	Team	Stat
Points per game	George Gervin	San Antonio Spurs	27.2
Rebounds per game	Truck Robinson	New Orleans Jazz	15.7
Assists per game	Kevin Porter	Detroit-New Jersey	10.2
Steals per game	Ron Lee	Phoenix Suns	2.74
Blocks per game	George Johnson	New Jersey Nets	3.38
FG%	Bobby Jones	Denver Nuggets	57.8
FT%	Rick Barry	Golden State Warriors	92.4

NBA awards

• Most Valuable Player: Bill Walton, Portland Trail Blazers
• Rookie of the Year: Walter Davis, Phoenix Suns
• Coach of the Year: Hubie Brown, Atlanta Hawks
• All-NBA First Team:
  • Julius Erving, Philadelphia 76ers
  • Truck Robinson, New Orleans Jazz
  • Bill Walton, Portland Trail Blazers
  • George Gervin, San Antonio Spurs
  • David Thompson, Denver Nuggets
• All-NBA Rookie Team:
  • Bernard King, New Jersey Nets
  • Marques Johnson, Milwaukee Bucks
  • Jack Sikma, Seattle SuperSonics
  • Norm Nixon, Los Angeles Lakers
  • Walter Davis, Phoenix Suns
• NBA All-Defensive First Team:
  • Bobby Jones, Denver Nuggets
  • Maurice Lucas, Portland Trail Blazers
  • Bill Walton, Portland Trail Blazers
  • Lionel Hollins, Portland Trail Blazers
  • Don Buse, Phoenix Suns
• NBA All-Defensive Second Team:
  • E.C. Coleman, Golden State Warriors
  • Bob Gross, Portland Trail Blazers
  • Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Los Angeles Lakers (tie)
  • Artis Gilmore, Chicago Bulls (tie)
  • Norm Van Lier, Chicago Bulls
  • Quinn Buckner, Milwaukee Bucks

Note: All information on this page were obtained on the History section on NBA.com