1977–78 Seattle SuperSonics season

1977–78 Seattle SuperSonics season
1977–78 Seattle SuperSonics season
Conference champions
Head coach	Bob Hopkins,; Lenny Wilkens
General manager	Zollie Volchok
Owners	Sam Schulman
Arena	Seattle Center Coliseum
Results
Record	47–35 (.573)
Place	Division: 3rd (Pacific); Conference: 4th (Western)
Playoff finish	NBA Finals; (lost to Bullets 3–4)
	Stats at Basketball Reference
Local media
Television	KIRO-TV 7; (Pete Gross, Gary Justice)
Radio	KOMO–AM 1000; (Bob Blackburn)
< 1976–77	1978–79 >

The 1977–78 Seattle SuperSonics season was the 11th season of the franchise in the National Basketball Association (NBA). With a disappointing 5–17 start, the Sonics replaced coach Bob Hopkins with future Hall of Famer Lenny Wilkens, who led the team to a 47–35 finish. In the playoffs, the SuperSonics defeated the Los Angeles Lakers in three games in the First Round, then upset the defending NBA champions Portland Trail Blazers in six games in the Western Conference semifinals, before finally defeating the Denver Nuggets in six games in the conference finals, making their first trip to the NBA Finals in franchise history, where they lost the series to the Washington Bullets in 7 games.

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Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	College
1	8	Jack Sikma	C/PF	United States	Illinois Wesleyan
3	52	Joe Hassett	SG	United States	Providence
4	74	Jim Cooper	F	United States	Alabama State
5	96	Dale Haverman	F	United States	McKendree
6	118	Bucky O'Brien	G	United States	Seattle
7	138	Billy Reynolds	F	United States	Northwestern State
8	158	Jeff Frey	F	United States	Evansville

Pacific Division v t e	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Div
y-Portland Trail Blazers	58	24	.707	–	36–5	22–19	13–3
x-Phoenix Suns	49	33	.598	9	34–7	15–26	8–8
x-Seattle SuperSonics	47	35	.573	11	31–10	16–25	8–8
x-Los Angeles Lakers	45	37	.549	13	29–12	16–25	6–10
Golden State Warriors	43	39	.524	15	30–11	13–28	5–11

Player	GP	MIN	PPG	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	TPG	FPG
Fred Brown	72	27.3	16.6	2.6	3.3	1.5	0.3	2.3	7.1
Al Fleming	20	4.9	2.0	1.5	0.4	0.0	0.3	0.8	0.8
Joe Hassett	48	8.4	4.0	0.8	0.9	0.4	0.0	0.7	1.9
Dennis Johnson	81	27.3	12.7	3.6	2.8	1.5	0.6	2.0	4.5
John Johnson	76	23.8	10.7	4.0	2.8	0.6	0.3	2.2	4.5
Bruce Seals	73	18.1	7.8	3.1	1.1	0.6	0.5	1.4	3.2
Jack Sikma	82	27.3	10.7	8.3	1.6	0.8	0.5	2.3	4.2
Paul Silas	82	26.5	5.8	8.1	1.8	0.8	0.2	1.9	2.2
Wally Walker	68	14.8	6.5	3.0	1.0	0.4	0.1	1.0	2.7
Marvin Webster	82	35.5	14.0	12.6	2.5	0.6	2.0	3.1	5.2
Gus Williams	79	32.6	18.1	3.2	3.7	2.3	0.5	2.4	7.6

Offseason

Player	GP	MIN	PPG	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	TPG	FPG
Fred Brown	22	26.1	17.3	2.1	2.4	1.0	0.1	1.4	7.0
Al Fleming	5	4.2	1.4	0.8	0.4	0.2	0.0	0.4	0.4
Joe Hassett	8	2.8	1.8	0.3	0.0	0.1	0.0	0.1	0.9
Dennis Johnson	22	37.6	16.1	4.6	3.3	1.0	1.0	2.5	5.5
John Johnson	22	27.1	10.1	4.5	2.5	0.4	0.3	2.4	4.3
Bruce Seals	9	10.2	3.0	2.2	0.9	0.2	0.2	0.7	1.3
Jack Sikma	22	31.9	13.7	8.1	1.2	0.8	0.5	1.6	5.2
Paul Silas	22	27.5	4.9	8.5	1.6	0.5	0.3	1.4	1.5
Wally Walker	20	13.1	4.7	1.9	0.6	0.4	0.2	0.9	1.8
Marvin Webster	22	41.1	16.1	13.1	2.6	0.3	2.6	3.4	6.2
Gus Williams	22	31.9	18.3	3.9	4.0	2.0	0.5	2.5	7.4