1978–79 Phoenix Suns season

The 1978–79 Phoenix Suns season was the 11th season for the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association and the first time they reached the 50-win mark to end the regular season. The team repeated a second-place finish in an expanded Pacific division and the Western Conference's second-best record, thus earning a spot in the playoffs, the franchise's first time extending the season in back-to-back seasons. For the first time since the '75–'76 team, the Suns returned to the Western Conference Finals, before being dispatched by Pacific division champion Seattle in seven games. The Suns were led by head coach John MacLeod and played all home games in Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

1978–79 Phoenix Suns season
Head coachJohn MacLeod
General managerJerry Colangelo
OwnersRichard Bloch
ArenaArizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum
Results
Record50–32 (.610)
PlaceDivision: 2nd (Pacific)
Conference: 3rd (Western)
Playoff finishLost in Conference Finals to Seattle (3–4)
Stats @ Basketball-Reference.com
RadioKTAR

Paul Westphal, whom led the Suns with his 24 points per game, made his third straight appearance in the All-Star Game and was again named to the All-NBA First Team. Walter Davis followed up his Rookie of the Year Award performance from the previous season with his second consecutive All-Star selection and by season's end, voted to the All-NBA Second Team. Fourth-year big man Alvan Adams hauled in a career-high 9.2 rebounds a game to go with an average of 17.8 points.

Offseason

NBA Draft
Main article: 1978 NBA draft
Round Pick Player Position Nationality College
1 19 Marty Byrnes Forward  United States Syracuse
3 63 Joel Kramer Forward  United States San Diego State
4 85 Bob Miller Center  United States Cincinnati
4 88 Wayne Smith Guard  United States California-Irvine
5 107 Andre Wakefield Guard  United States Loyola (IL)
6 128 Charles Thompson Forward  United States Houston
7 149 Steve Malovic Center  United States San Diego State
8 167 George Fowler Center  United States Pacific
9 184 Nate Stokes Forward  United States Grand Canyon
10 199 Lewis Cohen Guard  United States Cal Poly

Roster
Roster listing
1978–79 Phoenix Suns roster
Players Coaches
Pos.No.NameHeightWeightDOB (YYYY-MM-DD)From
F/C 33 Adams, Alvan 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1954-07-19 Oklahoma
PG 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
PF 24 Heard, Garfield 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 219 lb (99 kg) 1948-05-03 Oklahoma
F/C 50 Kramer, Joel 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 203 lb (92 kg) 1955-11-30 San Diego State
G 12 McClain, Ted 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1946-08-30 Tennessee State
PF 21 Robinson, Leonard 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 1951-10-04 Tennessee State
SF 14 Scott, Alvin 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1955-09-14 Oral Roberts
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-Seattle SuperSonics 5230.634–31-1021-2011–9
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
# Western Conference
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

Record vs. opponents
1978–79 NBA records
Team ATL BOS CHI CLE DEN DET GSW HOU IND KCK LAL MIL NJN NOJ NYK PHI PHO POR SAS SDC SEA WAS
Atlanta —2–23–13–13–13–11–33–11–32–21–33–02–22–22–22–22–12–23–13–11–32–2
Boston 2–2—1–22–21–32–22–11–33–11–31–31–31–32–23–12–20–41–30–41–32–20–4
Chicago 1–32–1—1–32–22–23–12–22–20–41–31–32–22–23–11–31–34–00–30–40–41–3
Cleveland 1–32–23–1—1–21–32–12–21–31–32–21–33–12–22–22–20–40–40–42–22–20–4
Denver 1–33–12–22–1—2–24–01–33–11–33–12–24–03–13–10–33–11–33–12–23–11–3
Detroit 1–32–22–23–12–2—1–32–22–22–22–22–10–42–21–31–30–41–31–32–20–31–3
Golden State 3–11–21–31–20–43–1—2–22–22–21–32–21–33–13–13–11–32–21–31–33–12–2
Houston 1–33–12–22–23–12–22–2—0–43–12–12–23–14–04–00–42–23–13–12–12–22–2
Indiana 3–11–32–23–11–32–22–24–0—1–30–42–21–22–12–22–22–23–13–11–30–41–3
Kansas City 2–23–14–03–13–12–22–21–33–1—2–22–23–13–12–12–22–21–31–32–22–23–0
Los Angeles 3–13–13–12–21–32–23–11–24–02–2—3–12–22–23–01–32–22–22–22–22–22–2
Milwaukee 0–33–13–13–12–21–22–22–22–22–21–3—2–23–11–32–22–22–21–31–32–21–3
New Jersey 2–23–12–21–30–44–03–11–32–11–32–22–2—3–11–32–23–02–20–42–20–41–3
New Orleans 2–22–22–22–21–32–21–30–41–21–32–21–31–3—2–22–21–31–32–20–40–30–4
New York 2–21–31–32–21–33–11–30–42–21–20–33–13–12–2—2–20–41–31–32–22–21–3
Philadelphia 2–22–23–12–23–03–11–34–02–22–23–12–22–22–22–2—1–31–23–13–11–33–1
Phoenix 1–24–03–14–01–34–03–12–22–22–22–22–20–33–14–03–1—3–13–12–21–31–3
Portland 2–23–10–44–03–13–12–21–31–33–12–22–22–23–13–12–11–3—2–12–21–33–1
San Antonio 1–34–03–04–01–33–13–11–31–33–12–23–14–02–23–11–31–31–2—4–02–21–3
San Diego 1–33–14–02–22–22–23–11–23–12–22–23–12–24–02–21–32–22–20–4—2–20–3
Seattle 3–12–24–02–21–33–01–32–24–02–22–22–24–03–02–23–13–13–12–22–2—2–2
Washington 2–24–03–14–03–13–12–22–23–10–32–23–13–14–03–11–33–11–33–13–02–2—

Game log
1978–79 game log
Total: 50–32 (Home: 32–9; Road: 18–23)
October: 7–3 (Home: 4–1; Road: 3–2)
November: 10–4 (Home: 5–1; Road: 5–3)
December: 7–7 (Home: 5–2; Road: 2–5)
January: 7–6 (Home: 4–3; Road: 3–3)
February: 6–6 (Home: 5–1; Road: 1–5)
March: 10–4 (Home: 6–1; Road: 4–3)
April: 3–2 (Home: 3–0; Road: 0–2)
1978–79 schedule

Playoffs

Game log
1979 playoff game log
First Round: 2–1 (Home: 2–0; Road: 0–1)
Conference Semifinals: 4–1 (Home: 3–0; Road: 1–1)
Conference Finals: 3–4 (Home: 2–1; Road: 1–3)
1979 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 third consecutive All-Star selection. Westphal finished second in voting among Western Conference guards with 251,829 votes.
  • Walter Davis was selected as a reserve for the Western Conference in the All-Star Game. It was his second consecutive All-Star selection. Davis finished fifth in voting among Western Conference forwards with 118,546 votes.

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 Adams777430.7.530.7999.24.71.4.817.8
Mike Bratz77016.8.454.8181.82.3.8.18.1
Don Buse828231.0.495.7692.64.31.9.27.8
Marty Byrnes*43117.1.489.7302.31.4.3.06.8
Walter Davis797830.8.561.8314.74.31.9.323.6
Bayard Forrest75716.6.434.5394.22.2.4.54.0
Garfield Heard633719.3.441.6895.61.0.8.96.3
Joel Kramer82117.1.489.7104.11.1.5.35.9
Ron Lee*43122.0.452.7122.63.11.6.19.8
Ted McClain36012.9.470.913^1.91.7.5.04.6
Truck Robinson*262029.1.508.6428.71.5.7.516.0
Alvin Scott812821.4.535.7144.41.61.0.86.7
Paul Westphal818132.6.535.837^2.06.51.4.324.0

* – Stats with the Suns.
^ – Minimum 125 free throws made.

Playoffs
Player GP GS MPG FG% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
Alvan Adams121231.0.475.7107.54.4.91.012.8
Mike Bratz15019.5.496.7631.42.01.0.210.6
Don Buse151534.1.405.7273.73.51.5.37.9
Walter Davis151532.7.520.8134.65.31.7.322.1
Bayard Forrest1407.9.556†.2002.10.8.3.11.6
Garfield Heard15921.3.372.6007.10.9.81.75.5
Joel Kramer15317.1.542†.7223.81.3.6.56.0
Ted McClain1407.4.441.8131.10.9.4.03.1
Truck Robinson15626.1.403.6528.10.7.4.810.5
Alvin Scott15014.5.385.6192.81.5.41.13.5
Paul Westphal151535.6.495.7882.24.31.0.322.4

† – Minimum 20 field goals made.

Transactions

Trades
October 11, 1978
 To Boston Celtics
 To Phoenix Suns
January 12, 1979
 To New Orleans Jazz
 To Phoenix Suns

Additions
Date Player Contract Old Team
January 15, 1979 Ted McClain Undisclosed Philadelphia 76ers

Subtractions
Date Player Reason Left New Team
August 23, 1978 Greg Griffin Suspended for signing overseas
August 23, 1978 Wayne Smith Waived
September 13, 1978 Curtis Perry Retired
October 12, 1978 Ira Terrell Waived New Orleans Jazz
October 12, 1978 Andre Wakefield Waived Chicago Bulls

References
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