Before the Cleveland Cavaliers' Game 7 … Paul Silas, the SuperSonics' veteran leader off the bench, helped shut down the Bullets' big men. The series featured the Western Conference champion Seattle SuperSonics against the Eastern Conference champion Washington Bullets. The Bullets defeated the SuperSonics in seven games to win the NBA championship. Standings; Schedule and Results; Leaders; Player Stats. Mitch Kupchak added 19 points, and Ballard had 12 points and 12 rebounds. Dennis Johnson, who before the 1977-78 playoffs was a relatively unknown guard from Pepperdine University, had grown into a star in this series in front of a national TV audience. Both teams met again in the 1979 finals, which Seattle won 4–1. The Baltimore Bullets were an American Basketball League (1944–47) team, and later, a Basketball Association of America (1947–49), and (beginning in 1949, following the BAA's merger with the National Basketball League) a National Basketball Association team based in Baltimore, Maryland. I really did."[8]. With 90 seconds left, Seattle whittled the lead from 11 points down to four, but Mitch Kupchak came up with a three-point play. With 10 seconds remaining and the SuperSonics leading 93-90, Johnson's inbounds pass was stolen by Tom Henderson, who scored to make it 93-92 with five seconds left. Take your favorite fandoms with you and never miss a beat. East Conf Finals. Even so, they cut Seattle's 11-point lead to two with less than two minutes to go before Jack Sikma hit three free throws down the stretch. Kentucky Colonels vs. Utah Stars; Baltimore Bullets vs. Milwaukee Bucks; 1970-71 Reg. [2][3], This article is about the original 1944–1954 Baltimore Bullets ABL/BAA/NBA team. Ballard and Dandridge produced a run that gave the Bullets a 12-point lead at the half. The Bullets, behind Kevin Grevey's 27 and Elvin Hayes's 21 points, held a 19-point lead in the fourth quarter at the Seattle Center Coliseum. Motta also used an upbeat ostinato, "Wait for the fat lady! Out of all defunct NBA teams, the Bullets were members of the association for the longest time and the only defunct team to win a championship. At this point, the Bullet guards, who had been victimized all series by Gus Williams and emerging star Dennis Johnson, started to assert themselves, especially reserves Charles Johnson and Larry Wright. Seattle got the ball back and tied it with "instant offense" Fred Brown's jumper from "downtown". SuperSonics big men Marvin Webster scored 27 points and Jack Sikma 21 to take up the slack, and that kept it close. This article is about the original 1944–1954 Baltimore Bullets ABL/BAA/NBA team. The flagship stations of each station of each team carried their local play-by-play calls. Nationwide radio coverage of the 1978 NBA Finals was broadcast by Mutual, with Tony Roberts on play-by-play and Hubie Brown on color commentary. The Bullets struggled with injuries during the season, but managed to finish with 44 wins, good for the third seed in the East. Most people didn’t give us a chance, but I felt all along we could. The Bullets defeated the SuperSonics in seven games to win the NBA championship. From a KENS-TV Spurs broadcast in the San Antonio series after Washington took a 3-1 lead, Motta adopted the expression "The 'opera' isn't over 'til the fat lady sings" to warn Bullets fans against braggadocio. The Baltimore Bullets were an American Basketball League (1944–1947) team, and later, a Basketball Association of America (1947–1949), and (beginning in 1949, following the BAA's absorption of the National Basketball League) a National Basketball Association team based in Baltimore.