1978 Portland Trail Blazers: The Dynasty That Never Was

The 1978 Portland Trail Blazers were on top of the world. They were coming off a surprise championship run in 1977 and validating that run by dominating most of the ’78 regular season. Then, in the blink of an eye, the cruelty of sports showed its hand in a dramatic way. An injury not only altered the course of this season, but the trajectory of the franchise and the arc of NBA history.

A CHAMPION BUILT TO LAST

Portland was built around Bill Walton. A star of John Wooden’s great UCLA teams in the mid-1970s, Walton combined both traditional post skills—scoring on the blocks and rebounding—with exceptional court vision. He averaged 19 points/13 rebounds/5 assists and was first-team All-Defense. In spite of his injury that cost him the final month-plus of the regular season, he still won the MVP award.

Maurice Lucas was another All-Defense performer down low. The power forward averaged a 16/9/3 line. Lionel Hollins ran the show at the point, with 16 points and five assists per game. Hollins was All-Defense.

Bob Gross was a reliable two-guard, who chipped in 13 points/6 rebounds/4 assists. Unlike the Walton/Lucas/Hollins trio, Gross wasn’t first-team All-Defense. He had to settle for second team.

Suffice it to say, Portland was not easy to score on. They had quality depth that included a double-digit scorer in Johnny Davis and dependable backup frontcourt players in Tom Owens and Lloyd Neal. They were also young, with the top eight rotation players being age 27 or younger.

The world was Portland’s oyster. And for three-quarters of the regular season they played like it.

PICKING UP WHERE THEY LEFT OFF

After winning three of their first four, the Blazers hosted the Philadelphia 76ers, whom they had upset in the previous year’s NBA Finals. Walton scored 25 points, hauled in 17 rebounds, and blocked five shots. Portland took over the fourth quarter and won 98-94. It triggered a six-game winning streak.

When the record reached 10-3, the Blazers ripped off eight straight wins. Most of them were against Eastern Conference opponents, but included a victory over the Los Angeles Lakers, whom they had upset in the previous year’s Western Conference Finals.

And when a loss on the return trip to Philly ended the winning streak? Portland simply started anew, winning seven in a row. By Christmas, they were 25-4, seven games clear of anyone else in the NBA.

RUNNING AWAY FROM THE FIELD

The pattern continued through much of winter. Someone would snap a win streak. The Blazers would start another one. A loss in Chicago was followed by seven straight wins. A loss in Washington, the eventual NBA champion, was followed by an overtime win in the Boston Garden on Super Bowl Sunday in mid-January.

A week later, the unthinkable occurred—Portland lost two consecutive games over a three-day stretch. Their response? Win seven in a row.

By the end of January, they were 42-8. In this era of the NBA, only six teams per conference made the playoffs and the two division winners got byes into the conference semifinals. With an eight-game lead in the Pacific Division, the Blazers had that bye all but assured. They were also eight games clear of anyone else in the NBA. It was apparent that the road to the NBA championship was coming through the Pacific Northwest. And there seemed little doubt as to who would win it.

A LAST BURST OF GREATNESS

Denver was headed for the 2-seed in the West and the Blazers lost twice to the Nuggets in the early part of February. Portland went on a difficult four-game road trip. Once again, they had an answer to even the mildest of adversity.

The Spurs, an Eastern Conference team until 1981, had the league’s top scorer in George Gervin. But the Blazers had Walton. He went off for 34 points/11 rebounds. Lucas added a 24/11 line. And the Blazers could defend. They forced Gervin into an 8-for-23 night from the floor and won 118-114.

Portland got on the plane and was in Washington D.C. the very next night to play the Bullets. Down eight at the half, on the back end of a difficult back-to-back and with nothing really to play for, the Blazers couldn’t be blamed if they mailed this one in. Instead, they showcased their balance. Portland’s bench outscored their Washington counterparts 41-13, dominated the second half and won 105-91. The Blazers swept the road trip.

That set the stage for Tuesday night, February 28. Philadelphia, on its way to the best record in the East, was coming to Portland. A Finals rematch and what seemed like a Finals preview. Bill Walton and the great Julius “Dr. J” Erving. The NBA didn’t get good TV coverage in this era, but in our own day, this is the kind of regular season game that gets national TV action.

It would be historic. For all the wrong reasons.

The basketball game itself was fine. The Blazers got out to a quick start and led 30-15 after the first quarter. Neal delivered 27 points/10 rebounds down low. Gross added 21 and grabbed ten more boards from his guard spot. Portland won easily, 113-92, to move their record to a ridiculous 50-10.

But there’s a name missing from the Blazer stat line. Walton had to leave the game. His foot was injured. He was gone for the rest of the regular season.

If you were a Portland fan, circa March 1978 though, you could still take hope. Walton was supposed to be back for the playoffs, and the Blazers were well clear of the field for homecourt. But there was now a very significant element of doubt in a season that had been looking more like a coronation.

WAITING FOR WALTON

Portland won three of five after the injury, but then the losses started to pile up. They dropped four in a row. There was a five-game losing streak later in March.

But a team with everything wrapped up going on cruise control while a star gets healthy could not, in itself, seen as cause for a five-alarm fire. Portland closed out the regular season by beating the Nuggets and Lakers and finished 58-24. And Walton would be back for the conference semifinals. Surely some order could be restored.

SEATTLE ENDS THE DREAM

The Seattle SuperSonics (today’s Oklahoma City Thunder) had been through a bizarre year. After a 5-17 start and a coaching change, the Sonics had gained steam and finished 47-35. They had a young team and a balanced one that was led by Gus Williams, Fred Brown, and Dennis Johnson in the backcourt, along with Marvin Webster and Jack Sikma up front.

In truth, the Sonics and Blazers were ships passing in the night heading in opposite directions. But when the series began, there was reasonable hope that a healthy Walton would put Portland in firm control.

But even though Walton scored 17 points/16 rebounds in his first game in over a month, the Blazers shot poorly and lost Game 1 at home. And after logging just 15 minutes of court time in Game 2, Walton walked off the floor. He was injured again. And this time he was done for the year.

The Blazers got the immediate effect of the rest of the team rallying to the cause, with a balanced attack getting them a Game 2 win. But the loss of Walton wasn’t going to be overcome. They lost Game 3 decisively. A tough two-point defeat in Game 4 was a missed chance to reclaim homecourt advantage. Even though Portland’s defense forced 24 turnovers in a Game 5 win that extended the season, that proved merely a stay of execution. Lucas tried to carry the load in Game 6, with a 22/12 line, but an eleven-point loss ended the Blazer season.

THE LOSS THAT CHANGED THE LEAGUE

Portland’s 1978 season was far from the first to be impacted by a major injury at the wrong time. What made it stand out was that Walton was never the same player. His feet and back continually betrayed him. Not until 1986, as a sixth man in Boston, was the big redheaded center able to contribute to a championship contender.

The injury was consequential enough to Portland—so much so that the legendary author David Halberstam wrote a book, The Breaks of the Game, that focused on the aftermath of this injury. But it mattered to the NBA as a whole. Walton was the league’s signature star. Even knowing what we know today about the arrival of Larry Bird and Magic Johnson in 1980, Walton was still well on a path to being up there with that duo.

An injury that derails the league’s best team for a season is a big story in its own right. One that alters the trajectory of a franchise and an entire league? Bill Walton’s injury was one of the most unfortunately historic moments in sports. And it’s the unfortunate legacy of a 1978 that saw so much magnificent basketball played in Portland.