1979 NBA playoffs
The 1979 NBA Playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 1978-79 season. The tournament concluded with the Western Conference champion Seattle SuperSonics defeating the Eastern Conference champion Washington Bullets 4 games to 1 in the NBA Finals. The Sonics (later the Thunder) earned their first (and as of 2014, only) NBA title. Dennis Johnson was named NBA Finals MVP.
The Finals was a rematch of 1978, in which Washington defeated Seattle 4-3. As of 2013, the Bullets (later the Wizards) have not returned to the Finals.
The Spurs made their first visit to the conference finals in these playoffs.
This was the first time that three of the former ABA teams made the playoffs, as it was the NBA playoff debut of the New Jersey Nets.
Bracket
| 1st Round | Conference Semifinals | Conference Finals | NBA Finals | |||||||||||||||
| 1 | Seattle | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Los Angeles | 1 | ||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Denver | 1 | ||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Los Angeles | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Seattle | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
| Western Conference | ||||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Phoenix | 3 | ||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Phoenix | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
| 6 | Portland | 1 | ||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Phoenix | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Kansas City | 1 | ||||||||||||||||
| W1 | Seattle | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
| E1 | Washington | 1 | ||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Washington | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Atlanta | 3 | ||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Houston | 0 | ||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Atlanta | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Washington | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
| Eastern Conference | ||||||||||||||||||
| 2 | San Antonio | 3 | ||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Philadelphia | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
| 6 | New Jersey | 0 | ||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Philadelphia | 3 | ||||||||||||||||
| 2 | San Antonio | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
Western Conference
Champion: Seattle SuperSonics
1st Round
(1) Seattle SuperSonics & (2) Kansas City Kings have first round byes.
(3) Phoenix Suns vs. (6) Portland Trail Blazers: Suns win series 2-1
- Game 1 @ Phoenix: Phoenix 107, Portland 103
- Game 2 @ Portland: Portland 96, Phoenix 92
- Game 3 @ Phoenix: Phoenix 101, Portland 91
(4) Denver Nuggets vs. (5) Los Angeles Lakers: Lakers win series 2-1
- Game 1 @ Denver: Denver 110, Los Angeles 105
- Game 2 @ Los Angeles: Los Angeles 121, Denver 109
- Game 3 @ Denver: Los Angeles 112, Denver 111
Conference Semifinals
(1) Seattle SuperSonics vs. (5) Los Angeles Lakers: Sonics win series 4-1
- Game 1 @ Seattle: Seattle 112, Los Angeles 101
- Game 2 @ Seattle: Seattle 108, Los Angeles 103 (OT)
- Game 3 @ Los Angeles: Los Angeles 118, Seattle 112 (OT)
- Game 4 @ Los Angeles: Seattle 117, Los Angeles 115
- Game 5 @ Seattle: Seattle 106, Los Angeles 100
Last playoff meeting: 1978 Western Conference First Round (Seattle won 2-1)
(2) Kansas City Kings vs. (3) Phoenix Suns: Suns win series 4-1
- Game 1 @ Phoenix: Phoenix 102, Kansas City 99
- Game 2 @ Kansas City: Kansas City 111, Phoenix 91
- Game 3 @ Phoenix: Phoenix 108, Kansas City 93
- Game 4 @ Kansas City: Phoenix 108, Kansas City 94
- Game 5 @ Phoenix: Phoenix 120, Kansas City 99
Conference Finals
(1) Seattle SuperSonics vs. (3) Phoenix Suns: Sonics win series 4-3
- Game 1 @ Seattle: Seattle 108, Phoenix 93
- Game 2 @ Seattle: Seattle 103, Phoenix 97
- Game 3 @ Phoenix: Phoenix 113, Seattle 103
- Game 4 @ Phoenix: Phoenix 100, Seattle 91
- Game 5 @ Seattle: Phoenix 99, Seattle 93
- Game 6 @ Phoenix: Seattle 106, Phoenix 105
- Game 7 @ Seattle: Seattle 114, Phoenix 110
Last playoff meeting:1976 Western Conference Semifinals (Phoenix won 4-2)
Eastern Conference
Champion: Washington Bullets
(1) Washington Bullets & (2) San Antonio Spurs have first round byes.
(3) Philadelphia 76ers vs. (6) New Jersey Nets: 76ers win series 2-0
- Game 1 @ Philadelphia: Philadelphia 122, New Jersey 114
- Game 2 @ New Jersey: Philadelphia 111, New Jersey 101
(4) Houston Rockets vs. (5) Atlanta Hawks: Hawks win series 2-0
- Game 1 @ Houston: Atlanta 109, Houston 106
- Game 2 @ Atlanta: Atlanta 100, Houston 91
Conference Semifinals
(1) Washington Bullets vs. (5) Atlanta Hawks: Bullets win series 4-3
- Game 1 @ Washington: Washington 103, Atlanta 89
- Game 2 @ Washington: Atlanta 107, Washington 99
- Game 3 @ Atlanta: Washington 89, Atlanta 77
- Game 4 @ Atlanta: Washington 120, Atlanta 118 (OT)
- Game 5 @ Washington: Atlanta 107, Washington 103
- Game 6 @ Atlanta: Atlanta 104, Washington 86
- Game 7 @ Washington: Washington 100, Atlanta 94
(2) San Antonio Spurs vs. (3) Philadelphia 76ers: Spurs win series 4-3
- Game 1 @ San Antonio: San Antonio 119, Philadelphia 106
- Game 2 @ San Antonio: San Antonio 121, Philadelphia 120
- Game 3 @ Philadelphia: Philadelphia 123, San Antonio 115
- Game 4 @ Philadelphia: San Antonio 115, Philadelphia 112
- Game 5 @ San Antonio: Philadelphia 120, San Antonio 97
- Game 6 @ Philadelphia: Philadelphia 92, San Antonio 90 (Maurice Cheeks hits game winning shot with 10 seconds remaining.)
- Game 7 @ San Antonio: San Antonio 111, Philadelphia 108
Conference Finals
(1) Washington Bullets vs. (2) San Antonio Spurs: Bullets win series 4-3
- Game 1 @ Washington: San Antonio 118, Washington 97
- Game 2 @ Washington: Washington 115, San Antonio 95
- Game 3 @ San Antonio: San Antonio 116, Washington 114
- Game 4 @ San Antonio: San Antonio 118, Washington 102
- Game 5 @ Washington: Washington 107, San Antonio 103
- Game 6 @ San Antonio: Washington 108, San Antonio 100
- Game 7 @ Washington: Washington 107, San Antonio 105 (Bob Dandridge hits series-winning shot with 8 seconds remaining; Washington becomes 3rd team to win series after trailing 3-1.)
NBA Finals
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(1) Washington Bullets vs. (1) Seattle SuperSonics: Sonics win series 4-1
- Game 1 @ Washington: Washington 99, Seattle 97
- Game 2 @ Washington: Seattle 92, Washington 82
- Game 3 @ Seattle: Seattle 105, Washington 95
- Game 4 @ Seattle: Seattle 114, Washington 112 (OT: Dennis Johnson blocks Kevin Grevey with 4 seconds left to seal it)
- Game 5 @ Washington: Seattle 97, Washington 93
