1978 San Antonio Spurs: The Iceman Takes Center Stage
The Spurs had been one of the American Basketball Association (ABA)’s more successful franchises in the 1970s, covering a move from Dallas to San Antonio and leading to their inclusion as one of the four teams absorbed into the NBA in the merger of 1977. The Spurs immediately showed they were for real by making the playoffs in their first year in the NBA. The 1978 San Antonio Spurs built on the success, winning a division title and joining the league’s upper tier of contenders.
GERVIN LEADS THE WAY
George Gervin, AKA, “The Iceman” led the way. Gervin averaged over 27ppg, and he won a dramatic race for the scoring title. Gervin, even shooting at high volume from the perimeter, hit 54 percent of his shots and finished second in the MVP voting.
Larry Kenon provided the post presence, averaging 21 points/9 rebounds from the forward position. Billy Paultz anchored the middle, with a 16/8 line.
San Antonio didn’t get a lot of scoring from its backcourt, but they didn’t need to. What they needed were guards who could move the basketball and Mike Gale and Louie Dampier fit the bill, averaging a combined nine assists per night.
SEARCHING FOR CONSISTENCY
The Spurs muddled through an uneven start to the season, splitting their first twelve games. Then they won four straight and looked to have some momentum. Then they lost four of six.
More notable than the record was that they were having difficulty against the best teams in the league. San Antonio lost at defending champion Portland. They lost at home to Philadelphia, who had reached the Finals in 1977. They lost at Washington, a divisional rival, and the eventual NBA champion this year. And they lost to contending Denver both home and away.
By the early days of January, the Spurs were 19-17, but still within two games of first place and with a three-game cushion on making the playoffs. They weren’t playing great, but there was still plenty of time to achieve their goals.
A DIFFERENT NBA WORLD
The above reference to Washington as a divisional rival may have stood out. In the early days of their NBA membership, San Antonio was placed in the Eastern Conference. So were the Houston Rockets. The Central Division they inhabited included the Bullets and also included a playoff team in the Cleveland Cavaliers. The realignment that would bring Milwaukee and Chicago to the East, while shipping San Antonio and Houston out West was still three years off.
An even more important difference in the NBA world of 1978 was the playoff format. Only six teams qualified per conference. The two division winners got a bye into the conference semifinals, with the other four teams playing a best-of-three “mini-series.”
Thus, in January 1978, all eyes in San Antonio were on catching Washington for the Central Division.
MAKING THEIR MOVE
The Spurs won four of five in early January, including wins over Cleveland and playoff-bound Milwaukee. That set up a home game with the Seattle SuperSonics (today’s Oklahoma City Thunder), who were headed for the NBA Finals.
With another chance against a top team, San Antonio came through. Gervin hit 36 and the Spurs as a whole shot 58 percent from the floor in a 119-113 win. On January 22, the first Sunday after the Super Bowl, the Spurs hosted the Trail Blazers. Gervin got 34, Paultz went for 18 points/11 rebounds and San Antonio’s defense forced 25 turnovers to lead the way to a 106-95 win.
Washington came to town on the final day of January. The Spurs’ two stars dominated. Gervin hit 14-for-21 from the floor and scored 33. Kenon delivered a 26/12 line down low. San Antonio dominated the second half and won 129-109.
The Spurs were now beating good teams, and they were beating most everyone else. It was all part of a 12-1 stretch that pushed them past the Bullets and into a 4 ½ game divisional lead.
Even a brief sluggish stretch where San Antonio went 7-6 didn’t see the division margin impacted. The Spurs recovered by winning three of four. On March 11, Washington returned to San Antonio for a Saturday game. The Spurs were ready. Gervin again hit for 33. Paultz and Kenon completely controlled the blocks, combining for 33 points and 26 rebounds. The result was a 110-101 win.
San Antonio was 41-25, with a comfortable 5 ½ game lead on Washington. The Spurs were five back of Philadelphia for the best record in the East, but they were comfortably heading for their first round bye.
GERVIN VS. THOMPSON
With their bracket position all but locked in over the final 15 or so games of the regular season, attention could go to the scoring race. Gervin was locked in a duel with Denver’s David Thompson. By the season’s final day on April 9, Gervin had the lead, but it was still up for grabs.
Playing in Detroit that afternoon, Thompson went off for 73 points and moved ahead. If Gervin was going to win the scoring title, he needed to score at least 58 in New Orleans that night. The Iceman did it—he poured in 63 points. One of the most famous individual stat races in any sport had reached an epic conclusion.
Now, with a record of 52-30, it was time for the playoffs.
THE BULLETS TURN THE TABLES
Washington won their mini-series and set up a final battle in the conference semifinals. The Bullets had a pedestrian 44-38 record, but they had quality big men in Elvin Hayes and Wes Unseld, reliable perimeter scoring in Bob Dandridge and good overall depth.
San Antonio opened the series well enough, holding Washington to 40 percent shooting in Game 1, getting 35 from Gervin and winning 114-103.
Then things went dramatically south. The Spurs lost control of homecourt in Game 2. They lost both middle games in the nation’s capital and came home facing a 3-1 series deficit. Their back to the wall at home in Game 5, San Antonio outrebounded Washington and won 116-105 to keep the season alive.
There was still hope, but the Spurs needed to get a road win. They went to D.C. for Game 6 and shot the ball well, hitting 52 percent from the floor while holding the Bullets to 41 percent. It should have been enough to get the series back home for a seventh game. But it wasn’t. Free throws were one reason—the Spurs were outscored 25-8 at the line. And turnovers were another—they lost that stat 21-9.
A narrow 103-100 defeat was the third close loss of the series, and it ended San Antonio’s season. Washington went on to upset Philadelphia, then upset Seattle and won the championship.
A FRANCHISE ARRIVING
It was a disappointing ending, although Washington’s subsequent success makes it look a little better in retrospect that it may have in the immediate aftermath of the defeat. And in either case, 1978 was the continuation of one of the league’s new franchises showing they could compete. Over the next five years, the Spurs would reach the conference finals three times.