1978–79 Washington Bullets season

NBA professional basketball team season March 2026 May 2025 July 2025 August 2023 Washington Bullets 1979 yes yes 54 28 Atlantic 1 1 Dick Motta Capital Centre WDCA WTOP NBA Finals(lost to SuperSonics 1–4) WSB The 1978–79 Washington Bullets won their second consecutive Eastern Conference Championship, making it to the NBA Finals before losing to the Seattle SuperSonics. They finished the regular season with the best record in the NBA, at 54–28. Coming off of their NBA Championship the previous season, the Bullets were transferred to the Atlantic Division.http://www.sportsecyclopedia.com/nba/dc/wizards.html Washington Wizards (1963–Present) April 23, 2008 December 8, 2008 https://web.archive.org/web/20081208132443/http://www.sportsecyclopedia.com/nba/dc/wizards.html dead The Bullets would continue to remain one of the top teams in the league, as they captured the Atlantic Division championship with a league best record of 54–28. The Bullets ended the regular season losing 8 of their last 11 games, but rebounded in the playoffs with victories in both the Eastern Conference semifinals and Eastern Conference finals over the Atlanta Hawks and the San Antonio Spurs, respectively. The Bullets would proceed to have a 38-year drought without a division title until 2017; by then they had been renamed the Washington Wizards. This is the most recent appearance in the conference finals or NBA Finals for the franchise. This also remains the last 50-win season for Washington. Since this season, the Bullets/Wizards have only won five playoff series, none beyond the first round. Offseason NBA draft Round 1: Roger Phegley, Dave Corzine Round 2: Terry Sykes (Never played in the NBA) Round 4: Lawrence Boston Roster Washington Bullets 1978–79 #15539C white #BA0C2F white 42 Greg Ballard basketball F 6 7 215 Oregon 40 Dave Corzine c 6 11 250 DePaul 45 Phil Chenier G 6 3 180 California 10 Bob Dandridge SF 6 6 195 Norfolk State 35 Kevin Grevey F 6 5 210 Kentucky 14 Tom Henderson basketball G 6 3 190 Hawaii 11 Elvin Hayes C 6 9 235 Houston 25 Mitch Kupchak PF 6 9 230 North Carolina 15 Charles Johnson basketball, born 1949 G 6 0 170 California 22 Roger Phegley G 6 6 205 Bradley 41 Wes Unseld F 6 7 245 Louisville 32 Larry Wright basketball G 6 1 160 Grambling State Dick Motta Bernie Bickerstaff Regular season Season standings WSB WSB Game log Regular season Washington Bullets 1978 #15539C #FFFFFF Total: 54–28 (home: 31–10; road: 23–18) Washington Bullets October yes #BA0C2F #FFFFFF 3 1 1 4 |- | 3 | October 18, 1978 | @ Philadelphia | W 121–111 | Johnson (19) | Unseld (11) | Henderson,Unseld (6) | Spectrum12,065 | 3–0 |- | 6 | October 25, 1978 | @ Seattle | L 92–121 | Dandridge (16) | Ballard (9) | Dandridge (6) | Kingdome15,089 | 4–2 |- | 9 | October 31, 1978 | Atlanta | L 108–110 | Dandridge (26) | Kupchak (10) | Unseld (10) | Capital Centre5,487 | 4–5 Washington Bullets November #BA0C2F #FFFFFF 6 1 5 1 |- | 11 | November 4, 1978 | San Antonio | W 124–119 | Hayes (28) | Hayes (14) | Henderson (11) | Capital Centre12,619 | 6–5 |- | 13 | November 10, 1978 | Philadelphia | L 122–123 | Hayes (36) | Unseld (17) | Dandridge,Grevey,Henderson (5) | Capital Centre14,697 | 7–6 |- | 14 | November 11, 1978 | @ San Antonio | L 124–143 | Kupchak (27) | Hayes (11) | Henderson (8) | HemisFair Arena12,363 | 7–7 |- | 18 | November 18, 1978 | Denver | W 119–114 | Dandridge (19) | Hayes,Unseld (11) | Unseld (11) | Capital Centre13,505 | 11–7 Washington Bullets December #BA0C2F #FFFFFF 5 2 4 3 |- | 24 | December 2, 1978 | Kansas City | L 109–110 | Grevey (28) | Kupchak (13) | Henderson (11) | Capital Centre14,297 | 16–8 |- | 28 | December 9, 1978 | Phoenix | W 101–98 | Dandridge (23) | Unseld (20) | Henderson (9) | Capital Centre17,438 | 19–9 |- | 32 | December 20, 1978 | @ Phoenix | W 137–129 | Dandridge (36) | Hayes (11) | Henderson (13) | Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum9,789 | 23–9 Washington Bullets January #BA0C2F #FFFFFF 7 1 3 2 |- | 38 | January 5, 1979 | Phoenix | W 104–94 | Kupchak (25) | Hayes (26) | Henderson (10) | Capital Centre14,929 | 26–12 |- | 39 | January 6, 1979 | @ Atlanta | W 106–102 | Hayes (26) | Hayes (13) | Wright (6) | The Omni9,105 | 27–12 |- | 40 | January 9, 1979 | @ Denver | L 90–121 | Hayes (18) | Ballard,Corzine (8) | Dandridge (4) | McNichols Sports Arena13,872 | 27–13 |- | 45 | January 23, 1979 | Seattle | L 100–103 | Dandridge (23) | Unseld (13) | Dandridge (7) | Capital Centre15,232 | 31–14 |- | 47 | January 26, 1979 | @ Kansas City | L 128–142 | Hayes (28) | Hayes (13) | Unseld (6) | Kemper Arena10,301 | 32–15 |- | 49 | January 30, 1979 | Atlanta | W 109–105 | Hayes (23) | Hayes (18) | Dandridge (6) | Capital Centre14,398 | 34–15 Washington Bullets February #BA0C2F #FFFFFF 3 1 5 3 |- | 50 | February 1, 1979 | @ San Antonio | W 123–122 | Dandridge (36) | Unseld (19) | Henderson (10) | HemisFair Arena12,516 | 35–15 |- align="center" |colspan="9" bgcolor="#bbcaff"|All-Star Break |- style="background:#cfc;" |- bgcolor="#bbffbb" |- | 53 | February 11, 1979 | @ Philadelphia | L 99–107 | Dandridge (29) | Dandridge (17) | Dandridge (6) | Spectrum15,151 | 37–16 |- | 55 | February 15, 1979 | @ Phoenix | L 108–119 | Dandridge (30) | Hayes (13) | Henderson (6) | Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum12,660 | 38–17 |- | 57 | February 18, 1979 | @ Seattle | W 105–94 | Hayes (33) | Hayes (16) | Dandridge (7) | Kingdome21,935 | 39–18 |- | 59 | February 23, 1979 | Seattle | W 132–110 | Hayes (32) | Unseld (13) | Tied Henderson, Unseld (7) | Capital Centre19,035 | 40–19 Washington Bullets March #BA0C2F #FFFFFF 5 3 4 3 |- | 62 | March 4, 1979 | San Antonio | W 129–128 | Hayes (32) | Hayes (20) | Henderson (10) | Capital Centre17,181 | 43–19 |- | 64 | March 9, 1979 | @ Kansas City | L 116–121 | Dandridge (38) | Dandridge (12) | Johnson,Unseld,Wright (3) | Kemper Arena13,681 | 43–21 |- | 65 | March 11, 1979 | @ Denver | W 119–98 | Grevey (28) | Ballard,Unseld (11) | Wright (8) | McNichols Sports Arena15,326 | 44–21 |- | 74 | March 27, 1979 | Philadelphia | L 97–100 | Hayes (23) | Unseld (16) | Unseld (7) | Capital Centre18,741 | 50–24 Washington Bullets April #BA0C2F #FFFFFF 2 1 1 2 |- | 77 | April 1, 1979 | Denver | W 105–89 | Hayes (30) | Hayes (18) | Wright (12) | Capital Centre17,554 | 52–27 |- | 81 | April 7, 1979 | @ Atlanta | L 102–103 | Hayes (29) | Unseld (15) | Unseld (7) | The Omni15,641 | 54–27 WSB 1979 Playoffs Washington Bullets 1979 yes #15539C #FFFFFF Washington Bullets Eastern Conference Semifinals yes yes no #BA0C2F #FFFFFF 2 2 2 1 |- | 1 | April 15, 1979 | Atlanta | W 103–89 | Hayes (31) | Hayes (15) | Wright (6) | Capital Centre15,721 | 1–0 |- | 2 | April 17, 1979 | Atlanta | L 99–107 | Dandridge (36) | Unseld (10) | Henderson (8) | Capital Centre19,035 | 1–1 |- | 3 | April 20, 1979 | @ Atlanta | W 89–77 | Hayes (19) | Unseld (16) | Unseld (8) | The Omni15,798 | 2–1 |- | 4 | April 22, 1979 | @ Atlanta | W 120–115 (OT) | Hayes (29) | Hayes (17) | Dandridge (5) | The Omni15,798 | 3–1 |- | 5 | April 24, 1979 | Atlanta | L 103–107 | Hayes (26) | Hayes (14) | Henderson (11) | Capital Centre19,035 | 3–2 |- | 6 | April 26, 1979 | @ Atlanta | L 86–104 | Hayes (24) | Unseld (12) | Unseld (6) | The Omni15,978 | 3–3 |- | 7 | April 29, 1979 | Atlanta | W 100–94 | Hayes (39) | Hayes (15) | Dandridge (8) | Capital Centre19,035 | 4–3 |- Washington Bullets Eastern Conference Finals yes no #BA0C2F #FFFFFF 3 1 1 2 |- | 1 | May 4, 1979 | San Antonio | L 97–118 | Dandridge (25) | Hayes (20) | Henderson (5) | Capital Centre19,035 | 0–1 |- | 2 | May 6, 1979 | San Antonio | W 115–95 | Unseld (26) | Unseld (22) | Henderson (9) | Capital Centre19,035 | 1–1 |- | 3 | May 9, 1979 | @ San Antonio | L 114–116 | Dandridge (28) | Hayes (23) | Unseld (8) | HemisFair Arena15,318 | 1–2 |- | 4 | May 11, 1979 | @ San Antonio | L 102–118 | Hayes (23) | Unseld (21) | Dandridge (9) | HemisFair Arena16,055 | 1–3 |- | 5 | May 13, 1979 | San Antonio | W 107–103 | Hayes (24) | Hayes (22) | Henderson (9) | Capital Centre19,035 | 2–3 |- | 6 | May 16, 1979 | @ San Antonio | W 108–100 | Hayes (25) | Hayes (14) | Dandridge,Henderson (8) | HemisFair Arena16,055 | 3–3 |- | 7 | May 18, 1979 | San Antonio | W 107–105 | Dandridge (37) | Hayes (15) | Wright (7) | Capital Centre19,035 | 4–3 |- Washington Bullets NBA Finals yes no #BA0C2F #FFFFFF 1 2 0 2 |- | 1 | May 20, 1979 | Seattle | W 99–97 | Wright (26) | Unseld (12) | Henderson (6) | Capital Centre19,035 | 1–0 |- | 2 | May 24, 1979 | Seattle | L 82–92 | Dandridge (21) | Hayes (14) | Dandridge (5) | Capital Centre19,035 | 1–1 |- | 3 | May 27, 1979 | @ Seattle | L 95–105 | Dandridge (28) | Tied Hayes, Unseld (14) | Dandridge (5) | Kingdome35,928 | 1–2 |- | 4 | May 29, 1979 | @ Seattle | L 112–114 (OT) | Tied Grevey, Hayes, Johnson (18) | Unseld (16) | Henderson (8) | Seattle Center Coliseum14,098 | 1–3 |- | 5 | June 1, 1979 | Seattle | L 93–97 | Hayes (29) | Hayes (14) | Dandridge (7) | Capital Centre19,035 | 1–4 |- WSB 1979 yes Awards and honors Bob Ferry, NBA Executive of the Year Award Elvin Hayes, All-NBA First Team Bob Dandridge, All-NBA Second Team Bob Dandridge, NBA All-Defensive First Team References Bullets on Basketball Reference Washington Category:Washington Wizards seasons Category:Eastern Conference (NBA) championship seasons Wash Wash