1978–79 Phoenix Suns season

1978–79 Phoenix Suns season
Head coach	John MacLeod
General manager	Jerry Colangelo
Owner(s)	Richard Bloch
Arena	Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum
Results
Record	50–32 (.610)
Place	Division: 2nd (Pacific) Conference: 3rd (Western)
Playoff finish	Lost in Conference Finals to Seattle (3–4)
Stats @ Basketball-Reference.com
Radio	KTAR

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.

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

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

Phoenix Suns roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Nat. Name Height Weight DOB (Y-M-D) From F/C 33 Adams, Alvan 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1954-07-19 Oklahoma 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 24 Heard, Garfield 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 219 lb (99 kg) 1948-05-03 Oklahoma F 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 F 21 Robinson, Leonard 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 1951-10-04 Tennessee State F 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 John MacLeod (Bellarmine) Assistant coach(es) Al Bianchi (Bowling Green) Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured

Depth chart

Pos.	Starter	Bench	Reserve	Inactive
C	Alvan Adams	Bayard Forrest
PF	Truck Robinson	Gar Heard
SF	Walter Davis	Joel Kramer
SG	Paul Westphal	Alvin Scott
PG	Don Buse	Mike Bratz	Ted McClain

Regular season

Standings

Pacific Division	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Div
y-Seattle SuperSonics	52	30	.634	–	31-10	21-20	11–9
x-Phoenix Suns	50	32	.610	2	32–9	18–23	11–9
x-Los Angeles Lakers	47	35	.573	5	31–10	16–25	11–9
x-Portland Trail Blazers	45	37	.549	7	33–8	12–29	8–12
San Diego Clippers	43	39	.524	9	29–12	14–27	11–9
Golden State Warriors	38	44	.463	14	23–18	15–26	8–12

#	Western Conference
	Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1	z-Seattle SuperSonics	52	30	.634	–
2	y-Kansas City Kings	48	34	.585	4
3	x-Phoenix Suns	50	32	.610	2
4	x-Denver Nuggets	47	35	.573	5
5	x-Los Angeles Lakers	47	35	.573	5
6	x-Portland Trail Blazers	45	37	.549	7
7	San Diego Clippers	43	39	.524	9
8	Indiana Pacers	38	44	.463	14
8	Milwaukee Bucks	38	44	.463	14
8	Golden State Warriors	38	44	.463	14
11	Chicago Bulls	31	51	.378	21

Game log

1978–79 game log Total: 50–32 (Home: 32–9; Road: 18–23)
October: 7–3 (Home: 4–1; Road: 3–2) Game Date Team Score High points Location Attendance Record Streak 1 October 13 San Diego W 128–114 Paul Westphal (21) Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 11,217 1–0 W 1 2 October 15 Golden State W 129–110 Walter Davis (35) Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 9,750 2–0 W 2 3 October 17 San Antonio L 107–110 Paul Westphal (24) Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 8,755 2–1 L 1 4 October 18 @ Golden State W 122–112 Paul Westphal (33) Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Arena 7,139 3–1 W 1 5 October 22 @ Portland W 124–116 Walter Davis (28) Memorial Coliseum 12,666 4–1 W 2 6 October 24 Milwaukee W 124–116 Walter Davis (38) Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 11,728 5–1 W 3 7 October 25 @ Denver L 104–108 Paul Westphal (29) McNichols Sports Arena 14,448 5–2 L 1 8 October 27 @ Chicago W 115–110 (OT) Paul Westphal (38) Chicago Stadium 7,807 6–2 W 1 9 October 28 @ Kansas City L 102–112 Alvan Adams, Walter Davis (23) Kemper Arena 9,534 6–3 L 1 10 October 31 New York W 120–108 Paul Westphal (35) Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 11,197 7–3 W 1
November: 10–4 (Home: 5–1; Road: 5–3) Game Date Team Score High points Location Attendance Record Streak 11 November 2 @ New Orleans W 106–99 Paul Westphal (27) Louisiana Superdome 6,943 8–3 W 2 12 November 4 @ Houston L 103–110 Walter Davis (25) The Summit 9,163 8–4 L 1 13 November 8 Cleveland W 118–96 Ron Lee (24) Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 9,311 9–4 W 1 14 November 10 Denver L 132–150 Paul Westphal (27) Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 10,277 9–5 L 1 15 November 12 New Orleans W 128–122 Alvan Adams (33) Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 9,158 10–5 W 1 16 November 15 @ San Antonio W 125–119 Paul Westphal (39) HemisFair Arena 10,489 11–5 W 2 17 November 17 @ Philadelphia L 94–95 Paul Westphal (25) The Spectrum 11,513 11–6 L 1 18 November 18 @ Detroit W 119–105 Paul Westphal (28) Pontiac Silverdome 10,789 12–6 W 1 19 November 21 @ Cleveland W 110–108 Walter Davis (28) Coliseum at Richfield 6,524 13–6 W 2 20 November 22 @ Indiana W 115–110 Walter Davis (32) Market Square Arena 9,432 14–6 W 3 21 November 24 Houston W 120–113 Walter Davis (37) Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 12,660 15–6 W 4 22 November 26 Chicago W 125–109 Alvan Adams (22) Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 10,921 16–6 W 5 23 November 28 @ Chicago L 112–124 Walter Davis (26) Chicago Stadium 7,826 16–7 L 1 24 November 30 Detroit W 119–109 Paul Westphal (29) Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 9,633 17–7 W 1
December: 7–7 (Home: 5–2; Road: 2–5) Game Date Team Score High points Location Attendance Record Streak 25 December 1 @ Los Angeles L 122–130 Paul Westphal (32) The Forum 10,529 17–8 L 1 26 December 2 Golden State L 108–116 Alvan Adams (29) Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 9,167 17–9 L 2 27 December 6 Atlanta W 136–109 Walter Davis (25) Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 10,345 18–9 W 1 28 December 8 @ Boston W 124–104 Paul Westphal (30) Boston Garden 11,762 19–9 W 2 29 December 9 @ Washington L 98–101 Paul Westphal (30) Capital Centre 17,438 19–10 L 1 30 December 12 @ Milwaukee L 114–120 Paul Westphal (36) MECCA Arena 10,938 19–11 L 2 31 December 16 Los Angeles W 119–100 Alvan Adams, Paul Westphal (25) Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 11,327 20–11 W 1 32 December 17 @ San Diego L 110–116 Alvan Adams (32) San Diego Sports Arena 6,068 20–12 L 1 33 December 20 Washington L 129–137 Paul Westphal (36) Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 9,789 20–13 L 2 34 December 22 Kansas City W 123–103 Alvan Adams (32) Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 10,533 21–13 W 1 35 December 26 @ Denver W 106–102 Walter Davis (31) McNichols Sports Arena 16,325 22–13 W 2 36 December 28 Portland W 129–127 (OT) Walter Davis (42) Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 12,510 23–13 W 3 37 December 29 @ Seattle L 92–119 Mike Bratz (15) Kingdome 20,565 23–14 L 1 38 December 30 Boston W 112–109 Alvan Adams (28) Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 12,660 24–14 W 1
January: 7–6 (Home: 4–3; Road: 3–3) Game Date Team Score High points Location Attendance Record Streak 39 January 2 @ New York W 114–102 Alvan Adams (28) Madison Square Garden 11,266 25–14 W 2 40 January 5 @ Washington L 94–104 Ron Lee (19) Capital Centre 14,929 25–15 L 1 41 January 6 @ Philadelphia W 143–139 (OT) Walter Davis (35) The Spectrum 16,109 26–15 W 1 42 January 7 @ New Jersey L 112–117 Alvan Adams (32) Rutgers Athletic Center 3,439 26–16 L 1 43 January 11 Seattle L 106–109 Walter Davis (26) Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 12,660 26–17 L 2 44 January 13 Indiana L 99–102 Walter Davis (24) Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 12,660 26–18 L 3 45 January 17 @ Milwaukee L 118–123 Truck Robinson (25) MECCA Arena 10,661 26–19 L 4 46 January 18 @ Detroit W 97–87 Walter Davis (26) Pontiac Silverdome 5,839 27–19 W 1 47 January 20 Houston W 116–97 Paul Westphal (28) Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 12,660 28–19 W 2 48 January 24 Philadelphia W 101–94 Truck Robinson (26) Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 12,660 29–19 W 3 49 January 26 New York W 108–107 Walter Davis (24) Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 11,813 30–19 W 4 50 January 28 New Jersey L 114–117 Alvan Adams, Walter Davis (25) Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 12,357 30–20 L 1 51 January 31 Milwaukee W 123–118 Paul Westphal (28) Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 11,736 31–20 W 1
February: 6–6 (Home: 5–1; Road: 1–5) Game Date Team Score High points Location Attendance Record Streak 52 February 2 San Antonio W 133–108 Alvan Adams (24) Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 12,660 32–20 W 2 53 February 6 @ Portland L 93–110 Truck Robinson (19) Memorial Coliseum 12,666 32–21 L 1 54 February 9 Atlanta L 102–105 Paul Westphal (32) Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 11,928 32–22 L 2 55 February 11 Cleveland W 136–101 Truck Robinson (24) Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 10,972 33–22 W 1 56 February 15 Washington W 119–108 Paul Westphal (32) Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 12,660 34–22 W 2 57 February 16 @ Seattle L 104–119 Mike Bratz (19) Kingdome 23,103 34–23 L 1 58 February 17 New Orleans W 136–112 Alvan Adams (22) Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 12,660 35–23 W 1 59 February 20 @ New York W 117–107 Paul Westphal (36) Madison Square Garden 10,921 36–23 W 2 60 February 21 @ New Jersey L 112–123 Paul Westphal (25) Rutgers Athletic Center 3,812 36–24 L 1 61 February 23 @ Kansas City L 112–121 Truck Robinson (28) Kemper Arena 10,768 36–25 L 2 62 February 24 @ Atlanta L 85–110 Truck Robinson (21) Omni Coliseum 12,281 36–26 L 3 63 February 28 Indiana W 103–102 Paul Westphal (27) Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 10,735 37–26 W 1
March: 10–4 (Home: 6–1; Road: 4–3) Game Date Team Score High points Location Attendance Record Streak 64 March 2 Denver L 105–119 Paul Westphal (28) Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 11,835 37–27 L 1 65 March 4 Philadelphia W 119–94 Walter Davis (26) Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 10,722 38–27 W 1 66 March 8 Chicago W 132–117 Alvan Adams, Don Buse, Walter Davis (21) Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 10,126 39–27 W 2 67 March 11 @ Indiana L 111–112 Paul Westphal (24) Market Square Arena 14,173 39–28 L 1 68 March 13 @ Cleveland W 124–120 Walter Davis (36) Coliseum at Richfield 7,690 40–28 W 1 69 March 14 @ Boston W 126–117 Paul Westphal (39) Boston Garden 10,308 41–28 W 2 70 March 16 @ San Antonio W 128–122 Paul Westphal (43) HemisFair Arena 14,864 42–28 W 3 71 March 17 @ Houston L 122–134 Paul Westphal (22) The Summit 12,557 42–29 L 1 72 March 18 @ New Orleans L 117–121 Walter Davis, Paul Westphal (29) Louisiana Superdome 5,108 42–30 L 2 73 March 21 Boston W 134–113 Walter Davis (33) Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 11,568 43–30 W 1 74 March 23 Kansas City W 126–107 Paul Westphal (36) Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 12,660 44–30 W 2 75 March 25 @ Golden State W 111–95 Paul Westphal (25) Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Arena 10,651 45–30 W 3 76 March 28 Los Angeles W 112–106 Paul Westphal (32) Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 11,805 46–30 W 4 77 March 30 Seattle W 113–111 (OT) Walter Davis (40) Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 12,660 47–30 W 5
April: 3–2 (Home: 3–0; Road: 0–2) Game Date Team Score High points Location Attendance Record Streak 78 April 1 Detroit W 116–105 Alvan Adams (23) Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 10,550 48–30 W 6 79 April 4 Portland W 106–95 Paul Westphal (21) Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 11,305 49–30 W 7 80 April 6 San Diego W 118–117 Alvan Adams (23) Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 12,660 50–30 W 8 81 April 7 @ San Diego L 116–120 Walter Davis, Paul Westphal (22) San Diego Sports Arena 11,614 50–31 L 1 82 April 8 @ Los Angeles L 103–111 Walter Davis (21) The Forum 11,973 50–32 L 2
1978–79 season schedule

Playoffs

Game log

1979 playoff game log
First Round: 2–1 (Home: 2–0; Road: 0–1) Game Date Team Score High points Location Attendance Series Streak 1 April 10 Portland W 107–103 Paul Westphal (28) Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 12,660 1–0 W 1 2 April 13 @ Portland L 92–96 Walter Davis (31) Memorial Coliseum 12,666 1–1 L 1 3 April 15 Portland W 101–91 Paul Westphal (26) Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 12,660 2–1 W 1
Conference Semifinals: 4–1 (Home: 3–0; Road: 1–1) Game Date Team Score High points Location Attendance Series Streak 1 April 17 Kansas City W 102–99 Paul Westphal (25) Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 12,660 1–0 W 1 2 April 20 @ Kansas City L 91–111 Truck Robinson (17) Kemper Arena 13,659 1–1 L 1 3 April 22 Kansas City W 108–93 Walter Davis (22) Arizona State University Activity Center 14,301 2–1 W 1 4 April 25 @ Kansas City W 108–94 Paul Westphal (26) Kemper Arena 13,184 3–1 W 2 5 April 27 Kansas City W 120–99 Paul Westphal (32) Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 12,660 4–1 W 3
Conference Finals: 3–4 (Home: 2–1; Road: 1–3) Game Date Team Score High points Location Attendance Series Streak 1 May 1 @ Seattle L 93–108 Alvan Adams (18) Kingdome 14,098 0–1 L 1 2 May 4 @ Seattle L 97–103 Paul Westphal (29) Kingdome 31,964 0–2 L 2 3 May 6 Seattle W 113–103 Paul Westphal (25) Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 12,660 1–2 W 1 4 May 8 Seattle W 110–91 Walter Davis (27) Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 12,660 2–2 W 2 5 May 11 @ Seattle W 99–93 Paul Westphal (27) Kingdome 28,935 3–2 W 3 6 May 13 Seattle L 105–106 Paul Westphal (29) Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 12,660 3–3 L 1 7 May 17 @ Seattle L 110–114 Walter Davis (26) Kingdome 37,552 3–4 L 2
1979 playoff 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

• Paul Westphal was named to the All-NBA First Team.
• Walter Davis was named to the All-NBA Second Team. Davis also finished tenth in MVP voting.
• Don Buse was named to the All-Defensive First Team.

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 Adams	77	74	30.7	.530	.799	9.2	4.7	1.4	.8	17.8
Mike Bratz	77	0	16.8	.454	.818	1.8	2.3	.8	.1	8.1
Don Buse	82	82	31.0	.495	.769	2.6	4.3	1.9	.2	7.8
Marty Byrnes*	43	1	17.1	.489	.730	2.3	1.4	.3	.0	6.8
Walter Davis	79	78	30.8	.561	.831	4.7	4.3	1.9	.3	23.6
Bayard Forrest	75	7	16.6	.434	.539	4.2	2.2	.4	.5	4.0
Garfield Heard	63	37	19.3	.441	.689	5.6	1.0	.8	.9	6.3
Joel Kramer	82	1	17.1	.489	.710	4.1	1.1	.5	.3	5.9
Ron Lee*	43	1	22.0	.452	.712	2.6	3.1	1.6	.1	9.8
Ted McClain	36	0	12.9	.470	.913^	1.9	1.7	.5	.0	4.6
Truck Robinson*	26	20	29.1	.508	.642	8.7	1.5	.7	.5	16.0
Alvin Scott	81	28	21.4	.535	.714	4.4	1.6	1.0	.8	6.7
Paul Westphal	81	81	32.6	.535	.837^	2.0	6.5	1.4	.3	24.0

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

Playoffs

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Alvan Adams	12	12	31.0	.475	.710	7.5	4.4	.9	1.0	12.8
Mike Bratz	15	0	19.5	.496	.763	1.4	2.0	1.0	.2	10.6
Don Buse	15	15	34.1	.405	.727	3.7	3.5	1.5	.3	7.9
Walter Davis	15	15	32.7	.520	.813	4.6	5.3	1.7	.3	22.1
Bayard Forrest	14	0	7.9	.556†	.200	2.1	0.8	.3	.1	1.6
Garfield Heard	15	9	21.3	.372	.600	7.1	0.9	.8	1.7	5.5
Joel Kramer	15	3	17.1	.542†	.722	3.8	1.3	.6	.5	6.0
Ted McClain	14	0	7.4	.441	.813	1.1	0.9	.4	.0	3.1
Truck Robinson	15	6	26.1	.403	.652	8.1	0.7	.4	.8	10.5
Alvin Scott	15	0	14.5	.385	.619	2.8	1.5	.4	1.1	3.5
Paul Westphal	15	15	35.6	.495	.788	2.2	4.3	1.0	.3	22.4

† - Minimum 20 field goals made.

Transactions

Trades

October 11, 1978	To Boston Celtics Dennis Awtrey	To Phoenix Suns 1979 second-round draft pick ( Johnny High) Cash considerations
January 12, 1979	To New Orleans Jazz Marty Byrnes Ron Lee 1979 first-round draft pick ( Larry Knight) 1980 first-round draft pick ( John Duren) Cash considerations	To Phoenix Suns Truck Robinson

Free agents

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

• Standings on Basketball Reference