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,Unseld (6) | Spectrum12,065 | 3–0 |- | 6 | | @ Seattle | L 92–121 | Dandridge (16) | Ballard (9) | Dandridge (6) | Kingdome15,089 | 4–2 |- | 9 | | Atlanta | L 108–110 | Dandridge (26) | Kupchak (10) | Unseld (10) | Capital Centre5,487 | 4–5

| 11 | | San Antonio | W 124–119 | Hayes (28) | Hayes (14) | Henderson (11) | Capital Centre12,619 | 6–5 |- | 13 | | Philadelphia | L 122–123 | Hayes (36) | Unseld (17) | Dandridge,Grevey,Henderson (5) | Capital Centre14,697 | 7–6 |- | 14 | | @ San Antonio | L 124–143 | Kupchak (27) | Hayes (11) | Henderson (8) | HemisFair Arena12,363 | 7–7 |- | 18 | | Denver | W 119–114 | Dandridge (19) | Hayes,Unseld (11) | Unseld (11) | Capital Centre13,505 | 11–7

| 24 | | Kansas City | L 109–110 | Grevey (28) | Kupchak (13) | Henderson (11) | Capital Centre14,297 | 16–8 |- | 28 | | Phoenix | W 101–98 | Dandridge (23) | Unseld (20) | Henderson (9) | Capital Centre17,438 | 19–9 |- | 32 | | @ Phoenix | W 137–129 | Dandridge (36) | Hayes (11) | Henderson (13) | Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum9,789 | 23–9

| 38 | | Phoenix | W 104–94 | Kupchak (25) | Hayes (26) | Henderson (10) | Capital Centre14,929 | 26–12 |- | 39 | | @ Atlanta | W 106–102 | Hayes (26) | Hayes (13) | Wright (6) | The Omni9,105 | 27–12 |- | 40 | | @ Denver | L 90–121 | Hayes (18) | Ballard,Corzine (8) | Dandridge (4) | McNichols Sports Arena13,872 | 27–13 |- | 45 | | Seattle | L 100–103 | Dandridge (23) | Unseld (13) | Dandridge (7) | Capital Centre15,232 | 31–14 |- | 47 | | @ Kansas City | L 128–142 | Hayes (28) | Hayes (13) | Unseld (6) | Kemper Arena10,301 | 32–15 |- | 49 | | Atlanta | W 109–105 | Hayes (23) | Hayes (18) | Dandridge (6) | Capital Centre14,398 | 34–15

| 50 | | @ San Antonio | W 123–122 | Dandridge (36) | Unseld (19) | Henderson (10) | HemisFair Arena12,516 | 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) | Spectrum15,151 | 37–16 |- | 55 | | @ Phoenix | L 108–119 | Dandridge (30) | Hayes (13) | Henderson (6) | Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum12,660 | 38–17 |- | 57 | | @ Seattle | W 105–94 | Hayes (33) | Hayes (16) | Dandridge (7) | Kingdome21,935 | 39–18 |- | 59 | | Seattle | W 132–110 | Hayes (32) | Unseld (13) | (7) | Capital Centre19,035 | 40–19

| 62 | | San Antonio | W 129–128 | Hayes (32) | Hayes (20) | Henderson (10) | Capital Centre17,181 | 43–19 |- | 64 | | @ Kansas City | L 116–121 | Dandridge (38) | Dandridge (12) | Johnson,Unseld,Wright (3) | Kemper Arena13,681 | 43–21 |- | 65 | | @ Denver | W 119–98 | Grevey (28) | Ballard,Unseld (11) | Wright (8) | McNichols Sports Arena15,326 | 44–21 |- | 74 | | Philadelphia | L 97–100 | Hayes (23) | Unseld (16) | Unseld (7) | Capital Centre18,741 | 50–24

| 77 | | Denver | W 105–89 | Hayes (30) | Hayes (18) | Wright (12) | Capital Centre17,554 | 52–27 |- | 81 | | @ Atlanta | L 102–103 | Hayes (29) | Unseld (15) | Unseld (7) | The Omni15,641 | 54–27

Playoffs

| 1 | | Atlanta | W 103–89 | Hayes (31) | Hayes (15) | Wright (6) | Capital Centre15,721 | 1–0 |- | 2 | | Atlanta | L 99–107 | Dandridge (36) | Unseld (10) | Henderson (8) | Capital Centre19,035 | 1–1 |- | 3 | | @ Atlanta | W 89–77 | Hayes (19) | Unseld (16) | Unseld (8) | The Omni15,798 | 2–1 |- | 4 | | @ Atlanta | W 120–115 (OT) | Hayes (29) | Hayes (17) | Dandridge (5) | The Omni15,798 | 3–1 |- | 5 | | Atlanta | L 103–107 | Hayes (26) | Hayes (14) | Henderson (11) | Capital Centre19,035 | 3–2 |- | 6 | | @ Atlanta | L 86–104 | Hayes (24) | Unseld (12) | Unseld (6) | The Omni15,978 | 3–3 |- | 7 | | Atlanta | W 100–94 | Hayes (39) | Hayes (15) | Dandridge (8) | Capital Centre19,035 | 4–3

| 1 | | San Antonio | L 97–118 | Dandridge (25) | Hayes (20) | Henderson (5) | Capital Centre19,035 | 0–1 |- | 2 | | San Antonio | W 115–95 | Unseld (26) | Unseld (22) | Henderson (9) | Capital Centre19,035 | 1–1 |- | 3 | | @ San Antonio | L 114–116 | Dandridge (28) | Hayes (23) | Unseld (8) | HemisFair Arena15,318 | 1–2 |- | 4 | | @ San Antonio | L 102–118 | Hayes (23) | Unseld (21) | Dandridge (9) | HemisFair Arena16,055 | 1–3 |- | 5 | | San Antonio | W 107–103 | Hayes (24) | Hayes (22) | Henderson (9) | Capital Centre19,035 | 2–3 |- | 6 | | @ San Antonio | W 108–100 | Hayes (25) | Hayes (14) | Dandridge,Henderson (8) | HemisFair Arena16,055 | 3–3 |- | 7 | | San Antonio | W 107–105 | Dandridge (37) | Hayes (15) | Wright (7) | Capital Centre19,035 | 4–3

| 1 | | Seattle | W 99–97 | Wright (26) | Unseld (12) | Henderson (6) | Capital Centre19,035 | 1–0 |- | 2 | | Seattle | L 82–92 | Dandridge (21) | Hayes (14) | Dandridge (5) | Capital Centre19,035 | 1–1 |- | 3 | | @ Seattle | L 95–105 | Dandridge (28) | (14) | Dandridge (5) | Kingdome35,928 | 1–2 |- | 4 | | @ Seattle | L 112–114 (OT) | (18) | Unseld (16) | Henderson (8) | Seattle Center Coliseum14,098 | 1–3 |- | 5 | | Seattle | L 93–97 | Hayes (29) | Hayes (14) | Dandridge (7) | Capital Centre19,035 | 1–4

Awards and honors Bob Ferry, NBA Executive of the Year Award Elvin Hayes, All-NBA First Team Bob Dandridge, All-NBA Second Team Bob Dandridge, NBA All-Defensive First Team

References

Bullets on Basketball Reference