Quick Intro: 1979 NBA Champions

The 1979 NBA Champions presented a rematch of the 1978 NBA Championship series. In 1979, however, the outcome would be different.

Heading into the playoffs, the Sonics had achieved a 52-30 record throughout the season, and the Bullets ended with a 54-28 record. In 1978, the Seattle Sonics and Washington Bullets were surprise teams to reach the finals. In 1979, however, when the same teams met up in the finals, few people expected any other teams to have made it there.

"You know it all boils down to us against Washington one more time," the Sonics' Fred Brown said when asked for his prediction, according to NBA.com. "Both teams have great people all the way through the lineup. They're deeper, but we make up for that with our back court. I think it will be wild and picturesque all over again."

In the 1978 series, the Bullets walked away with the win, the title and the trophy. In 1979, Sonics leaders Dennis Johnson, Gus Williams and Paul "Papa Bear" Silas were determined to achieve a different outcome.

Coached by Lenny Wilkens, the Sonics started off strong, winning the first three games of the series. By the fourth game, however, the defending NBA champions came alive, and the Bullets won the fourth game. Their fire wouldn't last for long, though, and the Sonics ultimately walked away with the title after only five games.

Johnson and Williams were the key players and leading scorers for the series, and between the two of them, they scored more than half of the Sonics' points in the finals. Because of his all-around outstanding play on both ends of the court, Johnson won the most valuable player award.

Reference:

DJ Leads the Way for Sonics