1978 NBA playoffs

The 1978 NBA playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 1977-78 season. The tournament concluded with the Eastern Conference champion Washington Bullets defeating the Western Conference champion Seattle SuperSonics 4 games to 3 in the NBA Finals. Wes Unseld was named NBA Finals MVP. To date, it remains the only NBA title that the Bullets (since renamed the Wizards) have won.

1978 NBA playoffs
DatesApril 11–June 7, 1978
Season1977–78
Teams12
ChampionsWashington Bullets (1st title)
Runners-upSeattle SuperSonics (1st finals appearance)
Semifinalists
← 1977 1979 →

It was the third NBA Finals appearance and first title for the Bullets, founded in 1961. The Sonics made the Finals for the first time in their 11-year existence. This would be the first of two straight meetings in the Finals between the Bullets and Sonics, with Seattle winning the title the next year.

This was the first time since the expansion of the playoff field to 10 teams in 1975 that neither conference champion had the benefit of a first-round bye by being one of the top two teams in the conference during the regular season. The 1979 Finals rematch between the Sonics and Bullets took place with both teams as the #1 seed in their respective conference.

The Denver Nuggets, one of the four former American Basketball Association teams to join the NBA the previous season, became the first of them to win an NBA playoff series, defeating the Milwaukee Bucks in a 7-game conference semifinal.

Bracket
  First Round Conference Semifinals Conference Finals NBA Finals
                                     
E4 Cleveland 0 E1 Philadelphia* 4  
E5 New York 2 E5 New York 0  
  E1 Philadelphia* 2
Eastern Conference
  E3 Washington 4  
E3 Washington 2 E3 Washington 4
E6 Atlanta 0 E2 San Antonio* 2  
  E3 Washington 4
  W4 Seattle 3
W4 Seattle 2 W1 Portland* 2
W5 Los Angeles 1 W4 Seattle 4  
  W4 Seattle 4
Western Conference
  W2 Denver* 2
W3 Phoenix 0 W6 Milwaukee 3
W6 Milwaukee 2 W2 Denver* 4

* Division winner
Bold Series winner
Italic Team with home-court advantage

Western Conference

Champion: Seattle SuperSonics

1st Round

(1) Portland Trail Blazers and (2) Denver Nuggets have first-round byes.

(3) Phoenix Suns vs. (6) Milwaukee Bucks: Bucks win series 2-0

  • Game 1 @ Phoenix (April 11): Milwaukee 111, Phoenix 103
  • Game 2 @ Milwaukee (April 14): Milwaukee 94, Phoenix 90

(4) Seattle SuperSonics vs. (5) Los Angeles Lakers: Sonics win series 2-1

  • Game 1 @ Seattle (April 12): Seattle 102, Los Angeles 90
  • Game 2 @ Los Angeles (April 14): Los Angeles 105, Seattle 99
  • Game 3 @ Seattle (April 16): Seattle 111, Los Angeles 102

Conference Semifinals

(1) Portland Trail Blazers vs. (4) Seattle SuperSonics: Sonics win series 4-2

  • Game 1 @ Portland (April 18): Seattle 104, Portland 95
  • Game 2 @ Portland (April 21): Portland 96, Seattle 93 (Bill Walton's final game in a Portland Trail Blazer uniform)
  • Game 3 @ Seattle (April 23): Seattle 99, Portland 84
  • Game 4 @ Seattle (April 26): Seattle 100, Portland 98
  • Game 5 @ Portland (April 30): Portland 113, Seattle 89
  • Game 6 @ Seattle (May 1): Seattle 105, Portland 94

(2) Denver Nuggets vs. (6) Milwaukee Bucks: Nuggets win series 4-3

  • Game 1 @ Denver (April 18): Denver 119, Milwaukee 103
  • Game 2 @ Denver (April 21): Denver 127, Milwaukee 111
  • Game 3 @ Milwaukee (April 23): Milwaukee 143, Denver 112
  • Game 4 @ Milwaukee (April 25): Denver 118, Milwaukee 114
  • Game 5 @ Denver (April 28): Milwaukee 117, Denver 112
  • Game 6 @ Milwaukee (April 30): Milwaukee 119, Denver 91
  • Game 7 @ Denver (May 3): Denver 116, Milwaukee 110

Conference Finals

(2) Denver Nuggets vs. (4) Seattle SuperSonics: Sonics win series 4-2

  • Game 1 @ Denver (May 5): Denver 116, Seattle 107
  • Game 2 @ Denver (May 7): Seattle 121, Denver 111
  • Game 3 @ Seattle (May 10): Seattle 105, Denver 91
  • Game 4 @ Seattle (May 12): Seattle 100, Denver 94
  • Game 5 @ Denver (May 14): Denver 123, Seattle 114
  • Game 6 @ Seattle (May 17): Seattle 123, Denver 108

Eastern Conference

Champion: Washington Bullets

1st Round

(1) Philadelphia 76ers & (2) San Antonio Spurs have first round byes.

(3) Washington Bullets vs. (6) Atlanta Hawks: Bullets win series 2-0

  • Game 1 @ Washington (April 12): Washington 103, Atlanta 94
  • Game 2 @ Atlanta (April 14): Washington 107, Atlanta 103 (OT)

(4) Cleveland Cavaliers vs. (5) New York Knicks: Knicks win series 2-0

  • Game 1 @ Cleveland (April 12): New York 132, Cleveland 114
  • Game 2 @ New York (April 14): New York 109, Cleveland 107

Last playoff meeting: This the first meeting between the Knicks and the Cavaliers

Conference Semifinals

(1) Philadelphia 76ers vs. (5) New York Knicks: 76ers win series 4-0

  • Game 1 @ Philadelphia (April 16): Philadelphia 130, New York 90
  • Game 2 @ Philadelphia (April 18): Philadelphia 119, New York 100
  • Game 3 @ New York (April 20): Philadelphia 137, New York 126
  • Game 4 @ New York (April 23): Philadelphia 112, New York 107

Last playoff meeting: 1968 Eastern division Semifinals (Philadelphia won 4-2)

(2) San Antonio Spurs vs. (3) Washington Bullets: Bullets win series 4-2

  • Game 1 @ San Antonio (April 16): San Antonio 114, Washington 103
  • Game 2 @ San Antonio (April 18): Washington 121, San Antonio 117
  • Game 3 @ Washington (April 21): Washington 118, San Antonio 105
  • Game 4 @ Washington (April 23): Washington 98, San Antonio 95
  • Game 5 @ San Antonio (April 25): San Antonio 116, Washington 105
  • Game 6 @ Washington (April 28): Washington 103, San Antonio 100

Conference Finals

(1) Philadelphia 76ers vs. (3) Washington Bullets: Bullets win series 4-2

  • Game 1 @ Philadelphia (April 30): Washington 122, Philadelphia 117 (OT) (After a jump ball with three seconds left, Doug Collins hits the game-tying shot at the buzzer to send it to OT)
  • Game 2 @ Philadelphia (May 3): Philadelphia 110, Washington 104
  • Game 3 @ Washington (May 5): Washington 123, Philadelphia 108
  • Game 4 @ Washington (May 7): Washington 121, Philadelphia 105
  • Game 5 @ Philadelphia (May 10): Philadelphia 107, Washington 94
  • Game 6 @ Washington (May 12): Washington 101, Philadelphia 99

NBA Finals
Main article: 1978 NBA Finals

(3) Washington Bullets vs. (4) Seattle SuperSonics: Bullets win series 4-3

  • Game 1 @ Seattle (May 21): Seattle 106, Washington 102 ("Downtown" Freddie Brown scores 30 points, 16 in 4th quarter, to lead the Sonics back from a 19-point deficit)
  • Game 2 @ Washington (May 25): Washington 106, Seattle 98
  • Game 3 @ Washington (May 28): Seattle 93, Washington 92
  • Game 4 @ Seattle (May 30): Washington 120, Seattle 116 (OT) (played at the Seattle Kingdome)
  • Game 5 @ Seattle (June 2): Seattle 98, Washington 94
  • Game 6 @ Washington (June 4): Washington 117, Seattle 82
  • Game 7 @ Seattle (June 7): Washington 105, Seattle 99

Note: The 'Game 7' played marked the last time until the 2016 NBA Finals, that a road team defeated the home team.

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