1977–78 Milwaukee Bucks season
NBA professional basketball team season
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 1977–78 Milwaukee Bucks season was the Bucks' tenth season in the NBA.[1] The Bucks had drafted Marques Johnson from UCLA in the 1977 NBA draft.
Record44–38 (.537)
| 1977–78 Milwaukee Bucks season | |
|---|---|
| Head coach | Don Nelson |
| Arena | MECCA Arena |
| Results | |
| Record | 44–38 (.537) |
| Place | Division: 2nd (Midwest) Conference: 6th (Western) |
| Playoff finish | West Conference semifinals (lost to Nuggets 3–4) |
Stats at Basketball Reference | |
| Local media | |
| Television | WVTV |
| Radio | WTMJ |
Draft picks
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | Nationality | College |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Kent Benson | C |  United States | Indiana |
| 1 | 3 | Marques Johnson | SF | United States | UCLA |
| 1 | 11 | Ernie Grunfeld | SG/SF |  Romania United States | Tennessee |
| 2 | 27 | Glen Williams | United States | St. John's | |
| 3 | 47 | Gary Yoder | SG | United States | Cincinnati |
| 4 | 69 | Lewis Brown | C | United States | Nevada-Las Vegas |
| 5 | 91 | Ron Norwood | United States | DePaul | |
| 6 | 113 | Chuck Goodyear | United States | Miami | |
| 7 | 134 | Ron Bostic | United States | Detroit Mercy | |
| 8 | 154 | Larry Pikes | United States | Wisconsin-Milwaukee |
Roster
| Players | Coaches | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Head coach
Assistant(s)
Legend
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Regular season
Season standings
| W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Div | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| y-Denver Nuggets | 48 | 34 | .585 | – | 33–8 | 15–26 | 11–9 |
| x-Milwaukee Bucks | 44 | 38 | .537 | 4 | 28–13 | 16–25 | 14–6 |
| Chicago Bulls | 40 | 42 | .488 | 8 | 29–12 | 11–30 | 8–12 |
| Detroit Pistons | 38 | 44 | .463 | 10 | 24–17 | 14–27 | 8–12 |
| Indiana Pacers | 31 | 51 | .378 | 17 | 21–20 | 10–31 | 8–12 |
| Kansas City Kings | 31 | 51 | .378 | 17 | 22–19 | 9–32 | 11–9 |
| # | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | W | L | PCT | GB | |
| 1 | z-Portland Trail Blazers | 58 | 24 | .707 | – |
| 2 | y-Denver Nuggets | 48 | 34 | .585 | 10 |
| 3 | x-Phoenix Suns | 49 | 33 | .598 | 9 |
| 4 | x-Seattle SuperSonics | 47 | 35 | .573 | 11 |
| 5 | x-Los Angeles Lakers | 45 | 37 | .549 | 13 |
| 6 | x-Milwaukee Bucks | 44 | 38 | .537 | 14 |
| 7 | Golden State Warriors | 43 | 39 | .524 | 15 |
| 8 | Chicago Bulls | 40 | 42 | .488 | 18 |
| 9 | Detroit Pistons | 38 | 44 | .463 | 20 |
| 10 | Indiana Pacers | 31 | 51 | .378 | 27 |
| 11 | Kansas City Kings | 31 | 51 | .378 | 27 |
- z – clinched division title
- y – clinched division title
- x – clinched playoff spot
Game log
| 1977–78 game log Total: 44–38 (home: 28–13; road: 16–25) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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October: 3–2 (home: 3–0; road: 0–2)
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November: 8–8 (home: 3–5; road: 5–3) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
December: 9–7 (home: 5–3; road: 4–4) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
January: 6–8 (home: 5–2; road: 1–6)
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February: 1–0 (home: 1–0; road: 0–0)
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March: 0–0 (home: 0–0; road: 0–0)
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April: 0–0 (home: 0–0; road: 0–0)
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| 1977–78 schedule | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Playoffs
Player statistics
| GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game |
| FG% | Field-goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point 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% | 3FG% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brian Winters | 80 | 34.4 | 46.3 | 84.0 | 3.1 | 4.9 | 1.6 | 0.3 | 19.9 | ||
| Marques Johnson | 80 | 34.6 | 52.2 | 73.6 | 10.6 | 2.4 | 1.2 | 1.3 | 19.5 | ||
| Dave Meyers | 80 | 30.2 | 46.1 | 72.2 | 6.7 | 3.0 | 1.1 | 0.6 | 14.7 | ||
| Junior Bridgeman | 82 | 22.9 | 50.3 | 81.0 | 3.5 | 2.1 | 0.9 | 0.4 | 13.6 | ||
| Alex English | 82 | 18.9 | 54.2 | 72.7 | 4.8 | 1.6 | 0.5 | 0.7 | 9.6 | ||
| Quinn Buckner | 82 | 25.3 | 46.8 | 64.5 | 3.0 | 5.6 | 2.3 | 0.2 | 9.3 | ||
| John Gianelli | 82 | 28.4 | 48.8 | 64.2 | 6.2 | 2.3 | 0.7 | 1.1 | 8.5 | ||
| Kent Benson | 69 | 18.7 | 46.5 | 65.2 | 4.3 | 1.4 | 1.0 | 0.8 | 7.7 | ||
| Ernie Grunfeld | 73 | 17.3 | 44.3 | 65.7 | 2.7 | 2.0 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 6.9 | ||
| Lloyd Walton | 76 | 16.6 | 44.8 | 65.1 | 1.0 | 3.3 | 1.0 | 0.2 | 4.8 | ||
| Kevin Restani | 8 | 10.5 | 46.4 | 0.0 | 1.8 | 1.1 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 3.3 | ||
| Jim Eakins | 17 | 9.1 | 41.2 | 80.8 | 1.7 | 0.7 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 2.9 | ||
| Rich Laurel | 10 | 5.7 | 32.3 | 100.0 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 2.4 | ||
| Scott Lloyd | 14 | 8.0 | 36.4 | 60.0 | 1.9 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 2.1 |
Playoffs
| Player | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3FG% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marques Johnson | 9 | 35.7 | 54.9 | 75.0 | 12.4 | 3.4 | 1.1 | 1.9 | 24.0 | ||
| Brian Winters | 9 | 33.9 | 49.7 | 74.1 | 3.3 | 6.4 | 1.3 | 0.9 | 20.4 | ||
| Alex English | 9 | 23.1 | 61.5 | 78.1 | 4.7 | 1.4 | 0.7 | 0.8 | 13.4 | ||
| Dave Meyers | 9 | 31.0 | 44.4 | 66.7 | 8.2 | 3.9 | 0.8 | 1.2 | 12.9 | ||
| Quinn Buckner | 9 | 28.6 | 50.0 | 65.2 | 3.0 | 6.9 | 2.0 | 0.1 | 11.2 | ||
| Junior Bridgeman | 9 | 19.8 | 48.4 | 75.0 | 2.0 | 1.2 | 1.0 | 0.2 | 10.4 | ||
| John Gianelli | 9 | 32.2 | 42.4 | 76.9 | 6.4 | 1.6 | 0.9 | 1.2 | 7.8 | ||
| Ernie Grunfeld | 7 | 11.0 | 53.1 | 80.0 | 1.6 | 2.4 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 5.4 | ||
| Lloyd Walton | 9 | 13.8 | 48.6 | 61.5 | 0.4 | 4.1 | 0.9 | 0.3 | 4.7 | ||
| Kent Benson | 9 | 11.4 | 47.8 | 54.5 | 1.7 | 0.3 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 3.1 | ||
| Jim Eakins | 3 | 6.0 | 20.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.7 |
Awards and records
- Quinn Buckner, NBA All-Defensive Second Team
- Marques Johnson, NBA All-Rookie Team 1st Team
- On Friday, November 25, 1977, the day after Thanksgiving, and on the road, the Bucks overcame the largest 4th quarter deficit in NBA history, defeating the Atlanta Hawks after being down by 29 points with only 8:43 left in the game. Atlanta led 111–82 before Milwaukee went on a 35–4 run to win 117–115 in regulation. This record was set without the use of the three-point field goal, since its NBA inception was not until the 1979–80 season.
Transactions
Trades
| June 7, 1977 |
To Milwaukee Bucks----
|
To Buffalo Braves----
|
| September 2, 1977 |
To Milwaukee Bucks---- | To Buffalo Braves----
|
Free agents
| Player | Signed | Former team |
| Jim Eakins | January 13, 1978 | San Antonio Spurs |