1977–78 Phoenix Suns season

The 1977–78 Phoenix Suns season was the tenth season for the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association. The team finished second in a Pacific division that did not have a team finish below .500, as the Suns returned to the playoffs for the third time in franchise history. The Suns were led by head coach John MacLeod and played all home games in Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

1977–78 Phoenix Suns season
Head coachJohn MacLeod
General managerJerry Colangelo
OwnersRichard Bloch
ArenaArizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum
Results
Record49–33 (.598)
PlaceDivision: 2nd (Pacific)
Conference: 3rd (Western)
Playoff finishLost in first round to Milwaukee (0–2)
Stats @ Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
TelevisionKTAR-TV
RadioKTAR

Both Paul Westphal and Walter Davis, a rookie from the University of North Carolina, were selected to participate in the All-Star Game and by the end of the season, both were members of the All-NBA Second Team. Davis became the second Sun in three years to be selected as Rookie of the Year, an award teammate Alvan Adams had collected after the 1975–76 season.

Both Westphal and rookie Davis averaged career-highs in scoring, averaging 25.2 and 24.2 points a game. The combined averaged of 49.4 points made for the league's highest-scoring duo on the season. Additionally, Westphal and Davis broke a franchise record of 45.9 points a game, a mark set by Connie Hawkins and Dick Van Arsdale during the 1969–70 season.

Offseason

NBA Draft
Main article: 1977 NBA draft
Round Pick Player Position Nationality College
1 5 Walter Davis Guard  United States North Carolina
3 66 Mike Bratz Guard  United States Stanford
4 71 Greg Griffin Forward  United States Idaho State
5 93 Cecil Rellford Forward  United States St. John's
6 115 Billy McKinney Guard  United States Northwestern
7 136 Alvin Scott Forward  United States Oral Roberts
8 156 Alvin Joseph Center  United States California-Riverside

The Suns used their first-round pick to select swingman Walter Davis from North Carolina. Davis averaged 15.7 points, 5.6 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game in four years with the Tar Heels. He would make an immediate impact with the Suns, helping the team make a 15-game improvement and return to the playoffs. Averaging 24.2 points, 6.0 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game his first season, Davis was named Rookie of the Year, receiving 49 1/4 of 66 votes.[1] He would also be named to the All-NBA Second Team, and would finish fifth in Most Valuable Player voting, behind winner Bill Walton, George Gervin, David Thompson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.[2] Davis spent his first eleven seasons with the Suns before joining the Denver Nuggets as the league's second unrestricted free agent in 1988. He left as the Suns' all-time leading scorer (15,666 points), and had his #6 jersey retired by the franchise in 1994.

Roster
Phoenix Suns roster
PlayersCoaches
Pos.#Nat.NameHeightWeightDOB (Y-M-D)From
C 33 Adams, Alvan 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1954-07-19 Oklahoma
C 21 Awtrey, Dennis 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 235 lb (107 kg) 1948-02-22 Santa Clara
G 23 Bratz, Mike 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1955-10-17 Stanford
G 10 Buse, Don 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1950-08-10 Evansville
G/F 6 Davis, Walter 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 193 lb (88 kg) 1954-09-09 North Carolina
C 35 Forrest, Bayard 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 235 lb (107 kg) 1954-07-08 Grand Canyon
F 25 Griffin, Greg 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1952-09-06 Idaho State
F 24 Heard, Garfield 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 219 lb (99 kg) 1948-05-03 Oklahoma
G 30 Lee, Ron 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 193 lb (88 kg) 1952-11-02 Oregon
F 18 Perry, Curtis  6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1948-09-13 Missouri State
F 14 Scott, Alvin 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1955-09-14 Oral Roberts
F 32 Terrell, Ira  (IN) 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1954-06-19 SMU
G 44 Westphal, Paul 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1950-11-30 Southern California
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured

Regular season

Standings
Pacific Division W L PCT GB Home Road Div
y-Portland Trail Blazers 5824.707–36–522–1913–3
x-Phoenix Suns 4933.598934–715–268–8
x-Seattle SuperSonics 4735.5731131–1016–258–8
x-Los Angeles Lakers 4537.5491329–1216–256–10
Golden State Warriors 4339.5241530–1113–285–11
# Western Conference
Team W L PCT GB
1 z-Portland Trail Blazers5824.707–
2 y-Denver Nuggets4834.58510
3 x-Phoenix Suns4933.5989
4 x-Seattle SuperSonics4735.57311
5 x-Los Angeles Lakers4537.54913
6 x-Milwaukee Bucks4438.53714
7 Golden State Warriors4339.52415
8 Chicago Bulls4042.48818
9 Detroit Pistons3844.46320
10 Indiana Pacers3151.37827
11 Kansas City Kings3151.37827


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
1977–78 game log
Total: 49–33 (Home: 34–7; Road: 15–26)
October: 3–3 (Home: 2–1; Road: 1–2)
November: 8–4 (Home: 6–0; Road: 2–4)
December: 10–6 (Home: 5–2; Road: 5–4)
January: 12–2 (Home: 8–0; Road: 4–2)
February: 5–8 (Home: 4–1; Road: 1–7)
March: 9–7 (Home: 7–2; Road: 2–5)
April: 2–3 (Home: 2–1; Road: 0–2)
1977–78 schedule

Playoffs

Game log
1978 playoff game log
First Round: 0–2 (Home: 0–1; Road: 0–1)
1978 schedule

Awards and honors

All-Star
  • Paul Westphal was voted as a starter for the Western Conference in the All-Star Game. It was his second consecutive All-Star selection. Westphal finished second in voting among Western Conference guards with 264,006 votes.
  • Walter Davis was selected as a reserve for the Western Conference in the All-Star Game. It was his first All-Star selection.

Season

Player statistics
Legend
  GP Games played   GS Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage  RPG  Rebounds per game
 APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game  BPG  Blocks per game
 PPG  Points per game

Season
Player GP GS MPG FG% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
Alvan Adams704927.3.485.7308.13.21.2.915.5
Dennis Awtrey813420.0.424.6333.72.0.2.33.6
Mike Bratz80011.7.403.8241.41.5.5.14.7
Don Buse828231.1.458.8243.04.82.3.28.4
Walter Davis818132.0.526.8306.03.41.4.224.2
Bayard Forrest64013.9.466.4763.92.0.4.54.2
Greg Griffin36011.7.361.6392.90.7.4.04.0
Garfield Heard807326.2.424.6128.21.71.61.37.8
Ron Lee82223.5.439.7463.13.72.7.212.2
Curtis Perry45418.2.453.7855.61.1.8.56.0
Alvin Scott81519.0.488.6914.41.1.6.56.1
Paul Westphal808031.0.516.8132.15.51.7.425.2

Playoffs
Player GP GS MPG FG% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
Alvan Adams2235.5.4551.0008.02.01.0.516.0
Dennis Awtrey2012.0.2501.0001.01.5.5.01.5
Mike Bratz204.5.200.0.00.5.0.01.0
Don Buse2238.0.364.2.52.02.0.04.0
Walter Davis2233.0.475.7508.54.01.5.025.0
Bayard Forrest103.01.000.0.00.0.0.02.0
Greg Griffin2012.5.429.2.01.5.5.53.0
Garfield Heard2231.0.353.5008.02.51.02.06.5
Ron Lee2020.5.3131.0003.01.52.0.06.0
Alvin Scott2018.5.500.8333.01.51.0.06.5
Paul Westphal2233.0.468.8893.09.5.5.026.0

Transactions

Trades
July 15, 1977
 To Portland Trail Blazers---- To Phoenix Suns----
September 6, 1977
 To Indiana Pacers---- To Phoenix Suns----

Additions
Date Player Contract Old Team
July 23, 1977 Freeman Blade Undisclosed
February 16, 1978 Greg Griffin Undisclosed Phoenix Suns

Subtractions
Date Player Reason Left New Team
April 10, 1977 Tom Van Arsdale Retired
May 12, 1977 Dick Van Arsdale Retired
June 6, 1977 Keith Erickson Retired
August 23, 1977 Billy McKinney Waived Kansas City Kings
October 17, 1977 Freeman Blade Waived
October 17, 1977 Butch Feher Waived
November 14, 1977 Greg Griffin Waived Phoenix Suns

References
  1. "Suns' Walter Davis Named NBA Rookie of the Year". nba.com/history.
  2. "1977–78 NBA Awards Voting". basketball-reference.com.
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