1978–79 Phoenix Suns season

The 1978–79 Phoenix Suns season was the 11th season for the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association and the first time they reached the 50-win mark to end the regular season. The team repeated a second place finish in an expanded Pacific division and the Western Conference's second-best record, thus earning a spot in the playoffs, the franchise's first time extending the season in back-to-back seasons. For the first time since the '76–'77 team, the Suns returned to the Western Conference Finals, before being dispatched by Pacific division champion Seattle in seven games. The Suns were led by head coach John MacLeod and played all home games in Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

Paul Westphal, whom led the Suns with his 24 points points per game, made his third straight appearance in the All-Star Game and was again named to the All-NBA First Team. Walter Davis followed up his Rookie of the Year Award performance from the previous season with his second consecutive All-Star selection and by season's end, voted to the All-NBA Second Team. Fourth-year big man Alvan Adams hauled in a career-high 9.2 rebounds a game to go with an average of 17.8 points.

Offseason

NBA Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	College
1	19	Marty Byrnes	Forward	United States	Syracuse
3	63	Joel Kramer	Forward	United States	San Diego State
4	85	Bob Miller	Center	United States	Cincinnati
4	88	Wayne Smith	Guard	United States	California-Irvine
5	107	Andre Wakefield	Guard	United States	Loyola (IL)
6	128	Charles Thompson	Forward	United States	Houston
7	149	Steve Malovic	Center	United States	San Diego State
8	167	George Fowler	Center	United States	Pacific
9	184	Nate Stokes	Forward	United States	Grand Canyon
10	199	Lewis Cohen	Guard	United States	Cal Poly

Roster

Phoenix Suns roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Nat. Name Height Weight DOB (Y-M-D) From 5.5 !F/C 33 USA ! Adams, Alvan 81 !6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1954-07-19 Oklahoma 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 24 USA ! Heard, Garfield 78 !6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 219 lb (99 kg) 1948-05-03 Oklahoma 4.0 !F 50 USA ! Kramer, Joel 79 !6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 203 lb (92 kg) 1955-11-30 San Diego State 1.5 !G 12 USA ! McClain, Ted 73 !6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1946-08-30 Tennessee State 4.0 !F 21 USA ! Robinson, Leonard 79 !6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 1951-10-04 Tennessee 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 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

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 251,829 votes. It was his third consecutive All-Star selection.
• Walter Davis was selected as a reserve for the Western Conference in the All-Star Game. Davis finished fifth in voting among Western Conference forwards with 118,546 votes. It was his second consecutive All-Star selection.

Season

• Paul Westphal was named to the All-NBA First Team.
• Walter Davis was named to the All-NBA Second Team. Davis also finished tenth in MVP voting.
• Don Buse was named to the All-Defensive First Team.

Player statistics

Season

* - Stats with the Suns.
^ - Minimum 125 free throws made.

Playoffs

† - Minimum 20 field goals made.

References

• Standings on Basketball Reference