| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | April 10–June 1, 1979 |
| Season | 1978–79 |
| Teams | 12 |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | Seattle SuperSonics (1st title) |
| Runner-up | Washington Bullets |
| Semifinalists | |
The 1979 NBA playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association’s 1978–79 season. The tournament concluded with the Western Conference champion Seattle SuperSonics defeating the Eastern Conference champion Washington Bullets 4 games to 1 in the NBA Finals. The Sonics earned their only NBA title. Dennis Johnson was named NBA Finals MVP.
The Finals was a rematch of 1978, in which Washington defeated Seattle 4–3. As of the 2021–22 season[update], this remains the last time the Bullets (now the Wizards) have advanced as far as the Conference Finals. They have the longest conference finals drought of any team in the four major professional sports in North America.
The Spurs made their first visit to the Conference Finals in these playoffs.
This was the first time that three of the former ABA teams made the playoffs, as it was the NBA playoff debut of the New Jersey Nets.
This was the first time both conference finals went to a deciding Game 7 since 1963 and the last until 2018.