411 REFERENCE · Wikipedia
1978–79 San Antonio Spurs season
Reference material by Wikipedia contributors. This retains its source identity and is not 411 news reporting.
March 2026
August 2023
San Antonio Spurs 1979 yes 48 34 Central 1 2 Doug Moe John Begzos Angelo Drossos HemisFair Arena Conference finals(lost to Bullets 3–4) SAS KMOL(Terry Stembridge) WOAI(Terry Stembridge)
The 1978–79 San Antonio Spurs season was the Spurs' third season in the NBA and 12th season as a franchise.1978-79 San Antonio Spurs
Draft picks
1978 NBA draft
Round Pick Player Position Nationality College 1 20 Frankie Sanders Southern 3 64 Gerald Henderson PG Virginia Commonwealth 4 86 Rich Adams Illinois 5 108 Eugene Parker Purdue 6 129 Harry Morgan Indiana State 7 150 Hector Olivencia Sacred Heart 8 168 Henry Taylor Texas-Pan American 9 185 Rick Taylor Arizona State 10 200 Larry Brewster Florida
Roster
San Antonio Spurs 1978–79 #000000 #FFFFFF silver #000000
30 Allan Bristow SF 6 7 210 Virginia Tech
10 Louie Dampier PG 6 0 170 Kentucky
25 Coby Dietrick F/C 6 10 220 San Jose State
12 Mike Gale G 6 4 185 Elizabeth City State
44 George Gervin G/F 6 7 180 Eastern Michigan
23 Mike Green basketball, born 1951 C 6 10 200 Louisiana Tech
35 Larry Kenon F 6 9 205 Memphis
34 Glenn Mosley basketball PF 6 8 195 Seton Hall
53 Mark Olberding F 6 8 225 Minnesota
5 Billy Paultz F/C 6 11 235 St. John's
13 James Silas G 6 1 180 Stephen F. Austin
Doug Moe (North Carolina) Bob Bass (Oklahoma Baptist)
Regular season
Season standings
SAS
SAS
z - clinched division title
y - clinched division title
x - clinched playoff spot
Game log
Regular season
San Antonio Spurs 1979 #000000 #C0C0C0 Total: 48–34 (home: 29–12; road: 19–22)
San Antonio Spurs October yes #C0C0C0 #000000 3 1 2 3
|-
| 5
| October 20, 1978
| @ Seattle
| L 117–133
|
|
|
| Kingdome20,172
| 3–2
San Antonio Spurs November #C0C0C0 #000000 3 3 2 4
|-
| 12
| November 4, 1978
| @ Washington
| L 119–124
|
|
|
| Capital Centre12,619
| 6–6
|-
| 15
| November 11, 1978
| Washington
| W 143–124
|
|
|
| HemisFair Arena12,363
| 8–7
San Antonio Spurs December #C0C0C0 #000000 6 1 6 3
|-
| 25
| December 10, 1978
| @ Seattle
| L 99–112
|
|
|
| Kingdome13,847
| 12–13
San Antonio Spurs January #C0C0C0 #000000 7 1 2 4
|-
| 48
| January 26, 1979
| Seattle
| W 125–108
|
|
|
| HemisFair Arena13,659
| 30–18
San Antonio Spurs February #C0C0C0 #000000 5 1 2 4
|-
| 51
| February 1, 1979
| Washington
| L 122–123
|
|
|
| HemisFair Arena12,516
| 31–21
|-
| 61
| February 20, 1979
| Seattle
| W 118–102
|
|
|
| HemisFair Arena11,765
| 36–25
San Antonio Spurs March #C0C0C0 #000000 3 5 3 3
|-
| 65
| March 4, 1979
| @ Washington
| L 128–129
|
|
|
| Capital Centre17,181
| 39–26
San Antonio Spurs April #C0C0C0 #000000 2 0 2 1
SAS 1979
Playoffs
San Antonio Spurs 1979 yes #000000 #C0C0C0
San Antonio Spurs Conference semifinals yes yes no #C0C0C0 #000000 3 1 1 2
|- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc"
| 1
| April 15
| Philadelphia
| W 119–106
| Larry Kenon (30)
| Billy Paultz (9)
| Silas, Bristow (7)
| HemisFair Arena10,253
| 1–0
|- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc"
| 2
| April 17
| Philadelphia
| W 121–120
| George Gervin (29)
| Larry Kenon (7)
| Silas, Gale (8)
| HemisFair Arena16,709
| 2–0
|- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc"
| 3
| April 20
| @ Philadelphia
| L 115–123
| James Silas (32)
| Larry Kenon (15)
| Kenon, Gervin (5)
| Spectrum14,039
| 2–1
|- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc"
| 4
| April 22
| @ Philadelphia
| W 115–112
| George Gervin (32)
| Larry Kenon (9)
| Larry Kenon (6)
| Spectrum11,163
| 3–1
|- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc"
| 5
| April 26
| Philadelphia
| L 97–120
| James Silas (19)
| Larry Kenon (9)
| Silas, Gale (5)
| HemisFair Arena16,055
| 3–2
|- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc"
| 6
| April 29
| @ Philadelphia
| L 90–92
| James Silas (27)
| Larry Kenon (15)
| Mike Gale (6)
| Spectrum18,276
| 3–3
|- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc"
| 7
| May 2
| Philadelphia
| W 111–108
| George Gervin (33)
| George Gervin (12)
| Mark Olberding (7)
| HemisFair Arena16,055
| 4–3
|-
San Antonio Spurs Conference finals yes no #C0C0C0 #000000 2 1 1 3
|- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc"
| 1
| May 4, 1979
| @ Washington
| W 118–97
| George Gervin (34)
| Larry Kenon (21)
| James Silas (4)
| Capital Centre19,035
| 1–0
|- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc"
| 2
| May 6, 1979
| @ Washington
| L 95–115
| Larry Kenon (25)
| Larry Kenon (8)
| Olberding, Dietrick (3)
| Capital Centre19,035
| 1–1
|- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc"
| 3
| May 9, 1979
| Washington
| W 116–114
| George Gervin (29)
| Billy Paultz (12)
| Kenon, Gale (5)
| HemisFair Arena15,318
| 2–1
|- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc"
| 4
| May 11, 1979
| Washington
| W 118–102
| George Gervin (42)
| Larry Kenon (17)
| Silas, Gale (6)
| HemisFair Arena16,055
| 3–1
|- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc"
| 5
| May 13, 1979
| @ Washington
| W 103–107
| George Gervin (28)
| Mark Olberding (13)
| James Silas (6)
| Capital Centre19,035
| 3–2
|- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc"
| 6
| May 16, 1979
| Washington
| L 100–108
| George Gervin (20)
| Larry Kenon (15)
| James Silas (7)
| HemisFair Arena16,055
| 3–3
|- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc"
| 7
| May 18, 1979
| @ Washington
| L 105–107
| George Gervin (42)
| Larry Kenon (11)
| James Silas (5)
| Capital Centre19,035
| 3–4
|-
SAS 1979 yes
Player statistics
Regular season
Player POS Position GP Games played GS Games starter MP Minutes played REB Rebounds AST Assists STL Steals BLK Blocks PTS Points MPG Minutes per game RPG Rebounds per game APG Assists per game SPG Steals per game BPG Blocks per game PPG Points per gameMike GaleSG82 2,121 186 374 152 40 659 25.9 2.3 4.6 1.9 .5 8.0Larry KenonPF 81 2,947 790 335 154 19 1,791 36.4 9.8 4.1 1.9 .2 22.1George GervinSF 80 2,888 400 219 137 91 2,365 36.1 5.0 2.7 1.7 1.1 29.6Mark OlberdingPF 80 1,885 429 211 53 18 755 23.6 5.4 2.6 .7 .2 9.4James SilasPG 79 2,171 183 273 76 20 1,266 27.5 2.3 3.5 1.0 .3 16.0Billy PaultzC 79 2,122 625 178 35 125 912 26.9 7.9 2.3 .4 1.6 11.5Mike Green basketball, born 1951C 76 1,641 354 116 37 122 571 21.6 4.7 1.5 .5 1.6 7.5Coby DietrickC 76 1,487 315 198 72 38 497 19.6 4.1 2.6 .9 .5 6.5Allan BristowSF 74 1,324 247 231 56 15 472 17.9 3.3 3.1 .8 .2 6.4Louie DampierPG 70 760 63 124 35 8 275 10.9 .9 1.8 .5 .1 3.9Glenn Mosley basketballPF 26 221 64 19 8 10 85 8.5 2.5 .7 .3 .4 3.3Frankie Sanders†SF 22 263 59 35 14 3 132 12.0 2.7 1.6 .6 .1 6.0
† Denotes player spent time with another team in the season. Stats reflect time with the Spurs only.
Playoffs
Player POS Position GP Games played GS Games starter MP Minutes played REB Rebounds AST Assists STL Steals BLK Blocks PTS Points MPG Minutes per game RPG Rebounds per game APG Assists per game SPG Steals per game BPG Blocks per game PPG Points per gameLarry KenonPF14 557 160 42 20 1 295 39.8 11.4 3.0 1.4 .1 21.1George GervinSF14 513 82 35 27 14 400 36.6 5.9 2.5 1.9 1.0 28.6James SilasPG14 475 42 66 21 1 267 33.9 3.0 4.7 1.5 .1 19.1Mark OlberdingPF14 359 69 33 12 5 111 25.6 4.9 2.4 .9 .4 7.9Mike Green basketball, born 1951C14 350 73 11 13 36 110 25.0 5.2 .8 .9 2.6 7.9Mike GaleSG14 302 29 56 16 4 95 21.6 2.1 4.0 1.1 .3 6.8Coby DietrickC14 281 65 26 12 3 82 20.1 4.6 1.9 .9 .2 5.9Billy PaultzC 13 299 98 30 4 13 82 23.0 7.5 2.3 .3 1.0 6.3Allan BristowSF 13 163 27 28 9 5 56 12.5 2.1 2.2 .7 .4 4.3Louie DampierPG 7 55 5 8 3 1 20 7.9 .7 1.1 .4 .1 2.9Glenn Mosley basketballPF 3 6 1 1 0 1 5 2.0 .3 .3 .0 .3 1.7
Awards and records
George Gervin, All-NBA First Team
References
Category:San Antonio Spurs seasons
San Antonio
San Antonio
San Antonio