1979–80 Indiana Pacers season

1979–80 Indiana Pacers season
1979–80 Indiana Pacers season
Head coach	Bobby Leonard
Arena	Market Square Arena
Results
Record	37–45 (.451)
Place	Division: 5th (Central); Conference: 9th (Eastern)
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
	Stats at Basketball Reference
Local media
Television	WTTV
Radio	WNDE
< 1978–79	1980–81 >

The 1979–80 Indiana Pacers season was Indiana's fourth season in the NBA and 13th season as a franchise. This was the team's first season in the Eastern Conference since joining the league, replacing the now-relocated Utah Jazz in the Central Division.^[1]

Offseason

Draft picks

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	College

Roster

1979–80 Indiana Pacers roster

Players

Coaches

Pos.	No.	Player	Height	Weight	DOB	From
F	42	Mike Bantom	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	1951–12–03	Saint Joseph's
G/F	7	Dudley Bradley	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	1957–03–19	North Carolina
G	16	Johnny Davis	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	1955–10–21	Dayton
C	40	James Edwards	7 ft 0 in (2.13 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	1955–11–22	Washington
G	10	Joe Hassett	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	1955-09-11	Providence
F/C	45	Clemon Johnson	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	240 lb (109 kg)	1956–09–12	Florida A&M
F	8	Mickey Johnson	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	1952-08-31	Aurora
G/F	25	Billy Knight	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	1952–06–09	Pittsburgh
G	5	John Kuester	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	1955-02-06	North Carolina
F	30	George McGinnis	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	235 lb (107 kg)	1950-08-12	Indiana

Head coach

Bobby Leonard

Legend

(DP) Unsigned draft pick
(FA) Free agent
(S) Suspended
Injured

Regular season

Season standings

Central Division v t e	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Div
y-Atlanta Hawks	50	32	.610	–	32–9	18–23	21–9
x-Houston Rockets	41	41	.500	9	29–12	12–29	20–10
x-San Antonio Spurs	41	41	.500	9	27–14	14–27	14–16
Cleveland Cavaliers	37	45	.451	13	28–13	9–32	16–14
Indiana Pacers	37	45	.451	13	26–15	11–30	15–15
Detroit Pistons	16	66	.195	34	13–28	3–38	4–26

#	Eastern Conference v t e
#	Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1	z-Boston Celtics	61	21	.744	–
2	y-Atlanta Hawks	50	32	.610	11
3	x-Philadelphia 76ers	59	23	.720	2
4	x-Houston Rockets	41	41	.500	20
5	x-San Antonio Spurs	41	41	.500	20
6	x-Washington Bullets	39	43	.476	22

7	New York Knicks	39	43	.476	22
8	Cleveland Cavaliers	37	45	.451	24
8	Indiana Pacers	37	45	.451	24
10	New Jersey Nets	34	48	.415	27
11	Detroit Pistons	16	66	.195	44

z - clinched division title

y - clinched division title

x - clinched playoff spot

Game log

Regular season

1979–80 game log
Total: 37–45 (Home: 26–15; Road: 11–30)

October: 5–6 (home: 5–0; road: 0–6)

Game	Date	Team	Score	Location Attendance	Record
2	October 13, 1979	Atlanta	W 115–101	Market Square Arena	1–1
4	October 17, 1979	@ Houston	L 112–116	The Summit	2–2
5	October 18, 1979	@ Atlanta	L 85–115	The Omni	2–3
6	October 20, 1979	Boston	W 131–128 (OT)	Market Square Arena	3–3
8	October 24, 1979	@ Philadelphia	L 110–132	The Spectrum	3–5
11	October 31, 1979	Houston	W 133–129 (OT)	Market Square Arena	5–6

November: 6–9 (home: 3–2; road: 3–7)

Game	Date	Team	Score	Location Attendance	Record
13	November 3, 1979	Philadelphia	L 114–120 (2OT)	Market Square Arena	5–8
18	November 14, 1979	@ Phoenix	L 100–104	Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum	8–10
20	November 18, 1979	@ Los Angeles	L 104–127	The Forum	8–12
22	November 23, 1979	@ Boston	L 103–118	Boston Garden	9–13
24	November 26, 1979	@ Philadelphia	L 112–113	The Spectrum	10–14
25	November 28, 1979	Milwaukee	L 79–87	Market Square Arena	10–15

December: 6–6 (home: 4–3; road: 2–3)

Game	Date	Team	Score	Location Attendance	Record
27	December 1, 1979	Boston	L 102–106 (OT)	Market Square Arena	11–16
31	December 12, 1979	Seattle	L 107–112	Market Square Arena	14–27
35	December 22, 1979	Atlanta	W 130–110	Market Square Arena	16–19

January: 9–7 (home: 6–3; road: 3–4)

Game	Date	Team	Score	Location Attendance	Record
39	January 2, 1980	Los Angeles	L 120–127	Market Square Arena	17–22
40	January 3, 1980	@ Milwaukee	L 96–106	MECCA Arena	17–23
43	January 9, 1980	@ Seattle	L 111–120	Kingdome	18–25
52	January 29, 1980	Houston	W 133–112	Market Square Arena	26–26

February: 5–7 (home: 4–4; road: 1–3)

Game	Date	Team	Score	Location Attendance	Record
55	February 5, 1980	Philadelphia	L 120–127	Market Square Arena	26–29
57	February 8, 1980	@ Boston	L 108–130	Boston Garden	27–30
64	February 24, 1980	Phoenix	L 105–113	Market Square Arena	31–33
65	February 26, 1980	@ Houston	L 88–93	The Summit	31–34
66	February 27, 1980	@ Atlanta	L 111–116	The Omni	31–35

March: 6–10 (home: 4–3; road: 2–7)

Game	Date	Team	Score	Location Attendance	Record
69	March 5, 1980	@ Philadelphia	L 113–120	The Spectrum	31–38
70	March 7, 1980	Atlanta	L 94–99	Market Square Arena	31–39
72	March 11, 1980	Boston	W 114–108	Market Square Arena	32–40
74	March 14, 1980	Philadelphia	W 104–94	Market Square Arena	34–40
75	March 16, 1980	@ Atlanta	L 90–95	The Omni	34–41
76	March 18, 1980	@ Boston	L 102–114	Hartford Civic Center	34–42
79	March 22, 1980	@ Houston	L 110–125	The Summit	35–44
82	March 30, 1980	Houston	L 106–121	Market Square Arena	37–45

1979–80 schedule

Player statistics

Ragular season

Player	POS	GP	GS	MP	REB	AST	STL	BLK	PTS	MPG	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Johnny Davis	PG	82	82	2,912	226	440	110	23	1,300	35.5	2.8	5.4	1.3	.3	15.9
James Edwards	C	82	82	2,314	578	127	55	104	1,287	28.2	7.0	1.5	.7	1.3	15.7
Mickey Johnson	PF	82		2,647	681	344	153	112	1,566	32.3	8.3	4.2	1.9	1.4	19.1
Dudley Bradley	SG	82		2,027	223	252	211	48	688	24.7	2.7	3.1	2.6	.6	8.4
Clemon Johnson	C	79		1,541	394	115	48	121	472	19.5	5.0	1.5	.6	1.5	6.0
Mike Bantom	SF	77		2,330	456	279	85	49	908	30.3	5.9	3.6	1.1	.6	11.8
Billy Knight	SF	75		1,910	361	155	82	9	986	25.5	4.8	2.1	1.1	.1	13.1
Joe Hassett	SG	74		1,135	94	104	46	8	523	15.3	1.3	1.4	.6	.1	7.1
Alex English^†	SF	54		1,526	380	142	45	33	806	28.3	7.0	2.6	.8	.6	14.9
George McGinnis^†	PF	28		784	237	112	32	6	369	28.0	8.5	4.0	1.1	.2	13.2
John Kuester	PG	24		100	14	16	7	1	29	4.2	.6	.7	.3	.0	1.2
Phil Chenier^†	SG	23		380	35	47	15	10	124	16.5	1.5	2.0	.7	.4	5.4
Ron Carter	SG	13		117	19	9	2	3	32	9.0	1.5	.7	.2	.2	2.5
Tony Zeno	SF	8		59	14	1	4	3	14	7.4	1.8	.1	.5	.4	1.8
Corky Calhoun	SF	7		30	10	0	2	0	8	4.3	1.4	.0	.3	.0	1.1
Brad Davis^†	PG	5		43	2	5	3	0	7	8.6	.4	1.0	.6	.0	1.4

^† Denotes player spent time with another team in the season. Stats reflect time with the Pacers only.

Awards and records

Don Buse, NBA All-Defensive First Team

References

↑ 1979-80 Indiana Pacers

1979–80 Indiana Pacers season

Contents

Offseason

Draft picks

Roster

Regular season

Season standings

Game log

Regular season

Player statistics

Ragular season

Awards and records

References

See also