1977–78 Milwaukee Bucks season explained

The 1977–78 NBA season was the Bucks' tenth season in the NBA.^[1] The Bucks had drafted Marques Johnson from UCLA in the 1977 NBA draft.

Draft picks

See main article: article and 1977 NBA draft.

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	College
1	1		C		Indiana
1	3		SF		UCLA
1	11		SG/SF		Tennessee
2	27				St. John's
3	47		SG		Cincinnati
4	69		C		Nevada-Las Vegas
5	91				DePaul
6	113				Miami
7	134				Detroit Mercy
8	154				Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Regular season

Season standings

z – clinched division title

y – clinched division title

x – clinched playoff spot

Record vs. opponents

1977–78 NBA Records
width=100	Team	ATL	BOS	BUF	CHI	CLE	DEN	DET	GSW	HOU	IND	KCK	LAL	MIL	NJN	NOJ	NYK	PHI	PHO	POR	SAS	SEA	WAS
	—	2–2	3–1	1–3	1–3	1–3	2–2	1–3	3–1	3–1	2–1	3–1	2–2	3–1	2–2	2–2	2–2	3–1	1–3	1–3	2–1	1–3
	2–2	—	3–1	1–3	1–3	1–3	1–3	2–2	2–2	2–1	2–2	1–2	3–1	3–1	2–2	2–2	0–4	2–2	1–3	0–4	0–4	1–3
	1–3	1–3	—	3–1	1–3	1–3	1–3	0–3	3–1	1–3	1–2	1–3	1–3	2–2	2–2	3–1	1–3	0–4	1–3	1–3	1–3	1–3
	3–1	3–1	1–3	—	3–1	2–2	2–2	1–3	3–1	3–1	0–4	2–2	1–3	1–2	2–2	1–3	3–0	2–2	1–3	2–2	2–2	2–1
	3–1	3–1	3–1	1–3	—	3–1	2–2	2–2	2–2	2–1	2–2	2–2	3–1	3–1	2–2	3–1	1–3	1–2	0–4	0–4	3–1	2–2
	3–1	3–1	3–1	2–2	1–3	—	2–2	2–2	3–0	2–2	2–2	3–1	3–1	3–1	3–1	1–3	1–3	2–2	3–1	2–1	1–3	3–1
	2–2	3–1	3–1	2–2	2–2	2–2	—	2–2	3–1	1–3	1–3	2–2	2–2	3–1	3–0	0–4	0–4	2–2	1–3	1–3	1–3	2–2
	3–1	2–2	3–0	3–1	2–2	2–2	2–2	—	2–1	3–1	3–1	0–4	2–2	3–1	0–4	2–2	1–3	2–2	1–3	3–1	2–2	2–2
	1–3	2–2	1–3	1–3	2–2	0–3	1–3	1–2	—	3–1	2–2	1–3	1–3	2–2	1–3	2–2	2–2	1–3	2–2	1–3	0–4	1–3
	1–3	1–2	3–1	1–3	1–2	2–2	3–1	1–3	1–3	—	2–2	1–3	0–4	2–2	2–2	1–3	2–2	1–3	1–3	1–3	1–3	3–1
	1–2	2–2	2–1	4–0	2–2	2–2	3–1	1–3	2–2	2–2	—	2–2	0–4	2–2	2–2	0–4	1–3	0–4	0–4	0–4	1–3	2–2
	1–3	2–1	3–1	2–2	2–2	1–3	2–2	4–0	3–1	3–1	2–2	—	3–1	4–0	2–1	3–1	2–2	1–3	0–4	2–2	1–3	2–2
Milwaukee	2–2	1–3	3–1	3–1	1–3	1–3	2–2	2–2	3–1	4–0	4–0	1–3	—	3–1	2–1	3–1	1–2	1–3	1–3	2–2	1–3	3–1
	1–3	1–3	2–2	2–1	1–3	1–3	1–3	1–3	2–2	2–2	2–2	0–4	1–3	—	0–4	1–3	0–4	2–2	0–3	0–4	2–2	2–2
	2–2	2–2	2–2	2–2	2–2	1–3	1–3	4–0	3–1	2–2	2–2	1–2	1–2	4–0	—	1–3	2–2	1–3	3–1	1–3	2–2	0–4
	2–2	2–2	1–3	3–1	1–3	3–1	3–0	2–2	2–2	3–1	4–0	1–3	1–3	3–1	3–1	—	1–3	1–3	1–3	2–2	2–1	2–2
	2–2	4–0	3–1	1–3	3–1	3–1	4–0	3–1	2–2	2–2	3–1	2–2	2–1	4–0	2–2	3–1	—	2–1	2–2	3–1	3–1	2–2
	1–3	2–2	4–0	2–2	2–1	2–2	2–2	2–2	3–1	3–1	4–0	3–1	3–1	2–2	3–1	3–1	1–2	—	1–3	2–2	2–2	2–2
	3–1	3–1	3–1	3–1	4–0	1–3	3–1	3–1	2–2	3–1	4–0	4–0	3–1	3–1	1–3	3–0	2–2	3–1	—	2–2	3–1	2–1
	3–1	4–0	3–1	2–2	4–0	1–2	2–1	1–3	3–1	3–1	4–0	2–2	2–2	4–0	3–1	2–2	1–3	2–2	2–2	—	2–2	2–2
	1–2	4–0	3–1	2–2	1–3	3–1	3–1	2–2	4–0	3–1	3–1	3–1	3–1	2–2	2–1	1–3	1–3	2–2	1–3	2–2	—	1–3
Washington	3–1	3–1	3–1	1–2	2–2	1–3	2–2	2–2	3–1	1–3	2–2	2–2	1–3	2–2	4–0	2–2	2–2	2–2	1–2	2–2	3–1	—

Game log

|-style="background:#bbffbb;"| 1 || October 18, 1977 || Los Angeles| W 117–112|||| MECCA Arena| 1–0|-style="background:#fcc;"| 2 || October 19, 1977 || @ Denver| L 115–133|||| McNichols Sports Arena| 1—1|-style="background:#bbffbb;"| 3 || October 22, 1977 || Chicago| W 113–95|||| MECCA Arena| 2–1|-style="background:#fcc;"| 4 || October 27, 1977 || @ Houston| L 110–133|||| The Summit| 2—2|-style="background:#bbffbb;"| 5 || October 30, 1977 || Seattle| W 108–95|||| MECCA Arena| 3–2|-style="background:#bbffbb;"| 6 || November 1, 1977 || Kansas City| W 115–95|||| MECCA Arena| 4–2|-style="background:#fcc;"| 7 || November 3, 1977 || @ Cleveland| L 91—100|||| Coliseum at Richfield| 4–3|-style="background:#bbffbb;"| 8 || November 4, 1977 || Houston| W 110–108|||| MECCA Arena| 5–3|-style="background:#fcc;"| 9 || November 8, 1977 || Denver| L 101–111|||| MECCA Arena| 5–4|-style="background:#fcc;"| 11 || November 11, 1977 || Cleveland| L 82–88|||| MECCA Arena| 6–5|-style="background:#bbffbb;"| 24 || December 4, 1977 || New Jersey| W 134–118 OT|||| MECCA Arena| 13–11|-style="background:#bbffbb;"| 42 || January 10, 1978 || Indiana| W 125–103|||| MECCA Arena| 25–19|-style="background:#bbffbb;"| 48 || January 22, 1978 || Chicago| W 112–90|||| MECCA Arena| 26–22|-style="background:#bbffbb;"| 57 || February 15, 1978 || New Orleans| W 112–99|||| MECCA Arena| 29–28

Playoffs

|- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc"| 1| April 11| @ Phoenix| W 111–103| Brian Winters (31)| Marques Johnson (16)| Quinn Buckner (8)| Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum
12,161| 1–0|- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc"| 2| April 14| Phoenix| W 94–90| Marques Johnson (33)| Dave Meyers (14)| Quinn Buckner (10)| MECCA Arena
10,938| 2–0|-|- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc"| 1| April 18| @ Denver| L 103–119| Alex English (26)| Dave Meyers (15)| Brian Winters (11)| McNichols Sports Arena
17,297| 0–1|- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc"| 2| April 21| @ Denver| L 111–127| Marques Johnson (22)| Johnson, Meyers (5)| Lloyd Walton (8)| McNichols Sports Arena
17,838| 0–2|- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc"| 3| April 23| Denver| W 143–112| Marques Johnson (35)| Marques Johnson (10)| Lloyd Walton (11)| MECCA Arena
10,938| 1–2|- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc"| 4| April 25| Denver| L 104–118| Johnson, Winters (14)| Marques Johnson (7)| Brian Winters (6)| MECCA Arena
10,938| 1–3|- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc"| 5| April 28| @ Denver| W 117–112| Marques Johnson (34)| Marques Johnson (17)| Winters, Buckner (9)| McNichols Sports Arena
17,838| 2–3|- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc"| 6| April 30| Denver| W 119–91| Alex English (21)| Marques Johnson (17)| Marques Johnson (9)| MECCA Arena
10,938| 3–3|- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc"| 7| May 3| @ Denver| L 110–116| Brian Winters (27)| Marques Johnson (16)| Quinn Buckner (10)| McNichols Sports Arena
17,838| 3–4|-

Player statistics

Season

Season^[2]

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Brian Winters	80		34.4	46.3		84.0	3.1	4.9	1.6	0.3	19.9
Marques Johnson	80		34.6	52.2		73.6	10.6	2.4	1.2	1.3	19.5
Dave Meyers	80		30.2	46.1		72.2	6.7	3.0	1.1	0.6	14.7
Junior Bridgeman	82		22.9	50.3		81.0	3.5	2.1	0.9	0.4	13.6
	82		18.9	54.2		72.7	4.8	1.6	0.5	0.7	9.6
Quinn Buckner	82		25.3	46.8		64.5	3.0	5.6	2.3	0.2	9.3
John Gianelli	82		28.4	48.8		64.2	6.2	2.3	0.7	1.1	8.5
Kent Benson	69		18.7	46.5		65.2	4.3	1.4	1.0	0.8	7.7
Ernie Grunfeld	73		17.3	44.3		65.7	2.7	2.0	0.7	0.3	6.9
Lloyd Walton	76		16.6	44.8		65.1	1.0	3.3	1.0	0.2	4.8
Kevin Restani	8		10.5	46.4		0.0	1.8	1.1	0.0	0.1	3.3
Jim Eakins	17		9.1	41.2		80.8	1.7	0.7	0.2	0.4	2.9
Rich Laurel	10		5.7	32.3		100.0	1.0	0.3	0.3	0.1	2.4
Scott Lloyd	14		8.0	36.4		60.0	1.9	0.6	0.2	0.4	2.1

Playoffs

Playoffs

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Marques Johnson	9		35.7	54.9		75.0	12.4	3.4	1.1	1.9	24.0
Brian Winters	9		33.9	49.7		74.1	3.3	6.4	1.3	0.9	20.4
Alex English	9		23.1	61.5		78.1	4.7	1.4	0.7	0.8	13.4
Dave Meyers	9		31.0	44.4		66.7	8.2	3.9	0.8	1.2	12.9
Quinn Buckner	9		28.6	50.0		65.2	3.0	6.9	2.0	0.1	11.2
Junior Bridgeman	9		19.8	48.4		75.0	2.0	1.2	1.0	0.2	10.4
John Gianelli	9		32.2	42.4		76.9	6.4	1.6	0.9	1.2	7.8
Ernie Grunfeld	7		11.0	53.1		80.0	1.6	2.4	0.4	0.1	5.4
Lloyd Walton	9		13.8	48.6		61.5	0.4	4.1	0.9	0.3	4.7
Kent Benson	9		11.4	47.8		54.5	1.7	0.3	0.6	0.3	3.1
Jim Eakins	3		6.0	20.0		0.0	0.3	0.3	0.3	0.0	0.7

Awards and records

• Quinn Buckner, NBA All-Defensive Second Team
• Marques Johnson, NBA All-Rookie Team 1st Team
• On Friday, November 25, 1977, the day after Thanksgiving, and on the road, the Bucks overcame the largest 4th quarter deficit in NBA history, defeating the Atlanta Hawks after being down by 29 points with only 8:43 left in the game. Atlanta led 111–82 before Milwaukee went on a 35–4 run to win 117–115 in regulation. This record was set without the use of the three-point field goal, since its NBA inception was not until the 1979–80 season.

Transactions

Trades

June 7, 1977	To Milwaukee Bucks---- 1977 1st round pick (Marques Johnson)	To Buffalo Braves---- Swen Nater 1977 1st round pick
September 2, 1977	To Milwaukee Bucks---- John Gianelli	To Buffalo Braves---- 1979 1st round draft pick (Roy Hamilton)

Free agents

Player	Signed	Former team
Jim Eakins	January 13, 1978	San Antonio Spurs

Notes and References

1. https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/MIL/1978.html 1977–78 Milwaukee Bucks
2. Web site: 1977-78 Milwaukee Bucks Roster and Stats. 2021-06-05. Basketball-Reference.com. en.