The 1977–78 NBA season was the

Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), East ...

' 30th season in the NBA and 21st season in the city of

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

. The team played at

Cobo Arena Huntington Place (formerly known as Cobo Hall, Cobo Center, and briefly TCF Center) is a convention center in Downtown Detroit, owned by the Detroit Regional Convention Facility Authority (DRCFA) and operated by ASM Global. Located at 1 Washi ...

in Detroit. It was the last season playing in Detroit, until the 2017-18 season when the team returned to the city proper. 1977-78 was the franchise's final season in

, as they moved to the

Pontiac Silverdome The Pontiac Silverdome (also known as the Silverdome) was a stadium in Pontiac, Michigan. It opened in 1975 and sat on 199 acres (51 ha) of land. When the stadium opened, it featured a fiberglass fabric roof held up by air pressure, the fi ...

in the Detroit suburbs, also the home of the NFL's

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. The team plays their home game ...

, the next season. The Pistons finished with a 38-44 (.463) record, 4th place in the Midwest Division. Tensions lingered from the previous season, especially between coach Herb Brown and point guard Kevin Porter. Before the season began, the two tried to make peace, with Porter stating, "This year when I'm yanked I'll accept it," and Brown replying, "I may have made some mistakes." Team captain Bob Lanier, would add, "You can't change human nature. To be fair they should trade one of them." Porter was traded in November, 8 games into the season, to the

New Jersey Nets New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...

and would lead the NBA in assists on the season. Brown was fired a month later. Then, with Brown gone, Porter would return in a trade to Detroit the following season. Forward Marvin "Bad News" Barnes would report to the Adult Correctional Institute in

Cranston, Rhode Island Cranston, formerly known as Pawtuxet, is a city in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States. The official population of the city in the 2020 United States Census was 82,934, making it the second-largest city in the state. The center of ...

in the 1977 off-season to serve a 152-day sentence. He had pleaded guilty to a two-year-old charge that he had attacked Providence teammate Larry Ketvirtis with a tire iron. The judge gave him three years of probation. An October 1976 gun incident at the Detroit airport in which Barnes tried to get a weapon through security was a probation violation, causing the judge to require the completion of that initial sentence. Barnes was traded to the

Buffalo Braves The Buffalo Braves were an American professional basketball team based in Buffalo, New York. The Braves competed in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference ...

in November, bringing Gus Gerard and John Shumate to Detroit. The team was led by center

Bob Lanier Robert Jerry Lanier Jr. (September 10, 1948 – May 10, 2022) was an American professional basketball player. He played center (basketball), center for the Detroit Pistons and the Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). L ...

(24.5 ppg, 11.3 rpg, NBA All-Star) and guard Eric Money (18.6 ppg, 4.7 apg), out of the playoffs for the first time in 4 seasons.

Draft picks

Roster

Regular season

Season standings

:z – clinched division title :y – clinched division title :x – clinched playoff spot

Record vs. opponents

Game log

Regular season

, - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 3 , October 21, 1977
8:05p.m. EDT , @ Washington
L 109–117
, Lanier (33) , Lanier (10) , Lanier (6) , Capital Centre
13,276 , 1–2 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 11 , November 13, 1977
7:05p.m. EST , Washington
W 104–102
,

Money Money is any item or verifiable record that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts, such as taxes, in a particular country or socio-economic context. The primary functions which distinguish money are: m ...

(36) , Douglas (13) ,

(7) ,

5,149 , 6–5 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 44 , January 24, 1978
8:05p.m. EST , @ Washington
W 104–101
, Lanier (24) , Lanier (11) , Carr,

(4) , Capital Centre
6,717 , 19–25 , - align="center" , colspan="9" bgcolor="#bbcaff", All-Star Break , - style="background:#cfc;" , - bgcolor="#bbffbb" , - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 62 , March 3, 1978
8:05p.m. EST , Washington
L 108–124
,

(20) , Poquette (12) ,

(7) ,

5,033 , 29–33

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1977-78 Detroit Pistons Season Detroit Pistons seasons

1977 in Detroit 1978 in Detroit