1978–79 Washington Bullets season

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. 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

Regular season

Season standings

Game log

Regular season

|- | 3 | | @ Philadelphia | W 121–111 | Johnson (19) | Unseld (11) | Henderson,<br>Unseld (6) | Spectrum<br>12,065 | 3–0 |- | 6 | | @ Seattle | L 92–121 | Dandridge (16) | Ballard (9) | Dandridge (6) | Kingdome<br>15,089 | 4–2 |- | 9 | | Atlanta | L 108–110 | Dandridge (26) | Kupchak (10) | Unseld (10) | Capital Centre<br>5,487 | 4–5

|- | 11 | | San Antonio | W 124–119 | Hayes (28) | Hayes (14) | Henderson (11) | Capital Centre<br>12,619 | 6–5 |- | 13 | | Philadelphia | L 122–123 | Hayes (36) | Unseld (17) | Dandridge,<br>Grevey,<br>Henderson (5) | Capital Centre<br>14,697 | 7–6 |- | 14 | | @ San Antonio | L 124–143 | Kupchak (27) | Hayes (11) | Henderson (8) | HemisFair Arena<br>12,363 | 7–7 |- | 18 | | Denver | W 119–114 | Dandridge (19) | Hayes,<br>Unseld (11) | Unseld (11) | Capital Centre<br>13,505 | 11–7

|- | 24 | | Kansas City | L 109–110 | Grevey (28) | Kupchak (13) | Henderson (11) | Capital Centre<br>14,297 | 16–8 |- | 28 | | Phoenix | W 101–98 | Dandridge (23) | Unseld (20) | Henderson (9) | Capital Centre<br>17,438 | 19–9 |- | 32 | | @ Phoenix | W 137–129 | Dandridge (36) | Hayes (11) | Henderson (13) | Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum<br>9,789 | 23–9

|- | 38 | | Phoenix | W 104–94 | Kupchak (25) | Hayes (26) | Henderson (10) | Capital Centre<br>14,929 | 26–12 |- | 39 | | @ Atlanta | W 106–102 | Hayes (26) | Hayes (13) | Wright (6) | The Omni<br>9,105 | 27–12 |- | 40 | | @ Denver | L 90–121 | Hayes (18) | Ballard,<br>Corzine (8) | Dandridge (4) | McNichols Sports Arena<br>13,872 | 27–13 |- | 45 | | Seattle | L 100–103 | Dandridge (23) | Unseld (13) | Dandridge (7) | Capital Centre<br>15,232 | 31–14 |- | 47 | | @ Kansas City | L 128–142 | Hayes (28) | Hayes (13) | Unseld (6) | Kemper Arena<br>10,301 | 32–15 |- | 49 | | Atlanta | W 109–105 | Hayes (23) | Hayes (18) | Dandridge (6) | Capital Centre<br>14,398 | 34–15

|- | 50 | | @ San Antonio | W 123–122 | Dandridge (36) | Unseld (19) | Henderson (10) | HemisFair Arena<br>12,516 | 35–15 |- align="center" |colspan="9" bgcolor="#bbcaff"|All-Star Break |- style="background:#cfc;" |- bgcolor="#bbffbb" |- | 53 | | @ Philadelphia | L 99–107 | Dandridge (29) | Dandridge (17) | Dandridge (6) | Spectrum<br>15,151 | 37–16 |- | 55 | | @ Phoenix | L 108–119 | Dandridge (30) | Hayes (13) | Henderson (6) | Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum<br>12,660 | 38–17 |- | 57 | | @ Seattle | W 105–94 | Hayes (33) | Hayes (16) | Dandridge (7) | Kingdome<br>21,935 | 39–18 |- | 59 | | Seattle | W 132–110 | Hayes (32) | Unseld (13) | ' (7) | Capital Centre<br>19,035 | 40–19

|- | 1 | | Seattle | W 99–97 | Wright (26) | Unseld (12) | Henderson (6) | Capital Centre<br>19,035 | 1–0 |- | 2 | | Seattle | L 82–92 | Dandridge (21) | Hayes (14) | Dandridge (5) | Capital Centre<br>19,035 | 1–1 |- | 3 | | @ Seattle | L 95–105 | Dandridge (28) | ' (14) | Dandridge (5) | Kingdome<br>35,928 | 1–2 |- | 4 | | @ Seattle | L 112–114 (OT) | ' (18) | Unseld (16) | Henderson (8) | Seattle Center Coliseum<br>14,098 | 1–3 |- | 5 | | Seattle | L 93–97 | Hayes (29) | Hayes (14) | Dandridge (7) | Capital Centre<br>19,035 | 1–4 |-