The 1977–78 Seattle SuperSonics season was the 11th season of the franchise in the National Basketball Association (NBA). With a disappointing 5–17 start, the Sonics replaced coach Bob Hopkins with future Hall of Famer Lenny Wilkens, who led the team to a 47–35 finish. In the playoffs, the SuperSonics defeated the Los Angeles Lakers in three games in the First Round, then upset the defending NBA champions Portland Trail Blazers in six games in the Western Conference semifinals, before finally defeating the Denver Nuggets in six games in the conference finals, making their first trip to the NBA Finals in franchise history, where they lost the series to the Washington Bullets in 7 games.
Draft picks
Roster
Regular season
Standings
Record vs. opponents
Game log
|-bgcolor=#fcc
| 1
| October 19
| @ Golden State
| L 84–116
| Fred Brown 21
|
|
| Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena8,871
| 0–1
|-bgcolor=#fcc
| 2
| October 21
| Portland
| L 99–106
| Bruce Seals 28
|
|
| Seattle Center Coliseum12,156
| 0–2
|-bgcolor=#fcc
| 3
| October 23
| San Antonio
| L 94–112
| Bruce Seals 19
|
|
| Seattle Center Coliseum10,422
| 0–3
|-bgcolor=#fcc
| 4
| October 25
| @ Phoenix
| L 86–93
| Bruce Seals 20
|
|
| Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum10,917
| 0–4
|-bgcolor=#cfc
| 5
| October 26
| Buffalo
| W 97–92
| Fred Brown 37
|
|
| Seattle Center Coliseum8,689
| 1–4
|-bgcolor=#fcc
| 6
| October 29
| @ Chicago
| L 97–101
| Slick Watts 16
|
|
| Chicago Stadium12,871
| 1–5
|-bgcolor=#fcc
| 7
| October 30
| @ Milwaukee
| L 95–108
| Gus Williams 21
|
|
| MECCA Arena10,107
| 1–6
|-bgcolor=#fcc
| 8
| November 1
| @ Atlanta
| L 99–102
| Mike Green 17
|
|
| Omni Coliseum7,782
| 1–7
|-bgcolor=#cfc
| 9
| November 2
| @ Indiana
| W 106–104 (OT) | Gus Williams 27 | | | Market Square Arena11,753 | 2–7 |-bgcolor=#fcc | 10 | November 4 | New York | L 92–95 | Fred Brown 31 | | | Seattle Center Coliseum13,895 | 2–8 |-bgcolor=#fcc | 11 | November 5 | @ Portland | L 94–116 | Marvin Webster 23 | | | Memorial Coliseum12,666 | 2–9 |-bgcolor=#fcc | 12 | November 6 | Kansas City | L 83–99 | Fred Brown 14 | | | Seattle Center Coliseum11,276 | 2–10 |-bgcolor=#cfc | 13 | November 11 | Indiana | W 117–111 | Fred Brown,Gus Williams 20 | | | Seattle Center Coliseum9,349 | 3 10 |-bgcolor=#cfc | 14 | November 13 | New Orleans | W 117–83 | Three players 20 | | | Seattle Center Coliseum9,637 | 4–10 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 15 | November 15, 19775:05p.m. PST | @ Washington | L 109–111 | Williams (23) | Webster (13) | Watts,Webster (3) | Capital Centre5,593 | 4–11 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 16 | November 16, 19775:05p.m. PST | @ Philadelphia | L 96–101 | Watts,Webster (17) | Webster (19) | Brown,J Johnson (5) | The Spectrum13,314 | 4–12 |-bgcolor=#fcc | 17 | November 17 | @ New Orleans | L 116–127 | Slick Watts 18 | | | Louisiana Superdome8,112 | 4–13 |-bgcolor=#fcc | 18 | November 20 | Cleveland | L 108–115 | Fred Brown 31 | | | Seattle Center Coliseum10,005 | 4–14 |-bgcolor=#cfc | 19 | November 23 | L. A. Lakers | W 113–89 | Fred Brown 21 | | | Seattle Center Coliseum9,373 | 5–14 |-bgcolor=#fcc | 20 | November 25 | Chicago | L 89–106 | Gus Williams 20 | | | Seattle Center Coliseum9,384 | 5–15 |-bgcolor=#fcc | 21 | November 27 | New Jersey | L 96–99 | Gus Williams 36 | | | Seattle Center Coliseum9,475 | 5–16 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 22 | November 29, 19776:35p.m. PST | @ Denver | L 99–115 | Walker (18) | Sikma,Webster (8) | Watts (7) | McNichols Sports Arena13,122 | 5–17 |-bgcolor=#cfc | 23 | November 30 | @ Kansas City | W 86–84 | Gus Williams 24 | | | Kemper Arena7,692 | 6–17