1977–78 Phoenix Suns season

The 1977–78 Phoenix Suns season was the tenth season for the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association. The team finished second in a Pacific division that did not have a team finish below .500, as the Suns returned to the playoffs for the third time in franchise history. The Suns were led by head coach John MacLeod and played all home games in Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

Both Paul Westphal and Walter Davis, a rookie from the University of North Carolina, were selected to participate in the All-Star Game and by the end of the season, both were members of the All-NBA Second Team. Davis became the Sun second in three years to be selected as Rookie of the Year, an award teammate Alvan Adams had collected after the 1975–76 season.

Both Westphal and rookie Davis averaged career-highs in scoring, averaging 25.2 and 24.2 points a game. The combined averaged of 49.4 points made for the league's highest-scoring duo on the season. Additionally, Westphal and Davis broke a franchise record of 45.9 points a game, a mark set by Connie Hawkins and Dick Van Arsdale during the 1969–70 season.

Offseason

NBA Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	College
1	5	Walter Davis	Guard	United States	North Carolina
3	66	Mike Bratz	Guard	United States	Stanford
4	71	Greg Griffin	Forward	United States	Idaho State
5	93	Cecil Rellford	Forward	United States	St. John's
6	115	Billy McKinney	Guard	United States	Northwestern
7	136	Alvin Scott	Forward	United States	Oral Roberts
8	156	Alvin Joseph	Center	United States	California-Riverside

Roster

Phoenix Suns roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Nat. Name Height Weight DOB (Y-M-D) From 6.0 !C 33 USA ! Adams, Alvan 81 !6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1954-07-19 Oklahoma 6.0 !C 21 USA ! Awtrey, Dennis 82 !6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 235 lb (107 kg) 1948-02-22 Santa Clara 1.5 !G 23 USA ! Bratz, Mike 74 !6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1955-10-17 Stanford 1.5 !G 10 USA ! Buse, Don 76 !6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1950-08-10 Evansville 2.5 !G/F 6 USA ! Davis, Walter 78 !6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 193 lb (88 kg) 1954-09-09 North Carolina 6.0 !C 35 USA ! Forrest, Bayard 82 !6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 235 lb (107 kg) 1954-07-08 Grand Canyon 4.0 !F 25 USA ! Griffin, Greg 79 !6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1952-09-06 Idaho State 4.0 !F 24 USA ! Heard, Garfield 78 !6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 219 lb (99 kg) 1948-05-03 Oklahoma 1.5 !G 30 USA ! Lee, Ron 76 !6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 193 lb (88 kg) 1952-11-02 Oregon 4.0 !F 18 USA ! Perry, Curtis  79 !6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1948-09-13 Missouri State 4.0 !F 14 USA ! Scott, Alvin 79 !6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1955-09-14 Oral Roberts 4.0 !F 32 USA ! Terrell, Ira  (IN) 80 !6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1954-06-19 Southern Methodist 1.5 !G 44 USA ! Westphal, Paul 76 !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) Athletic trainer(s) Joe Proski (Montana State) Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured

Depth chart

Pos.	Starter	Bench	Reserve	Inactive
C	Alvan Adams	Dennis Awtrey	Bayard Forrest
PF	Gar Heard	Greg Griffin		Curtis Perry Ira Terrell
SF	Walter Davis	Alvin Scott
SG	Paul Westphal	Ron Lee
PG	Don Buse	Mike Bratz

Regular season

Standings

Game log

Playoffs

Game log

Awards and honors

All-Star

• Paul Westphal was voted as a starter for the Western Conference in the All-Star Game. Westphal finished second in voting among Western Conference guards with 264,006 votes. It was his second consecutive All-Star selection.
• Walter Davis was selected as a reserve for the Western Conference in the All-Star Game. It was his first All-Star selection.
• Other Suns players who received All-Star votes were Alvan Adams (123,963), Gar Heard (105,065), and Ron Lee (97,625).

Season

• Walter Davis was named Rookie of the Year.
• Paul Westphal was named to the All-NBA Second Team. Westphal also finished sixth in MVP voting.
• Walter Davis was named to the All-NBA Second Team. Davis also finished fifth in MVP voting.
• Don Buse was named to the All-Defensive First Team.
• Walter Davis was named to the All-Rookie First Team.
• Ron Lee led the league in steals per game with a 2.74 average.

Player statistics

Season

Playoffs

References

• Standings on Basketball Reference