# 2018 WNBA Finals

The 2018 WNBA Finals, officially the WNBA Finals 2018 presented by YouTube TV for sponsorship reasons, was the best-of-five championship series for the 2018 season of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). It featured the top-seeded Seattle Storm and the three-seeded Washington Mystics. The series began on September 7, 2018, and ended on September 12, 2018. After winning the first two games at home, the Storm went on the road and completed the 3–0 series sweep. It was the franchise's first title in eight years and third overall.

## Road to the Finals
### Standings

| # | Western Conference vte | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Conf. |
| 1 | Seattle Storm (1) | 26 | 8 | .765 | – | 13–4 | 13–4 | 11–5 |
| 2 | Phoenix Mercury (5) | 20 | 14 | .588 | 6 | 9–8 | 11–6 | 8–8 |
| 3 | Los Angeles Sparks (6) | 19 | 15 | .559 | 7 | 11–6 | 8–9 | 9–7 |
| 4 | Minnesota Lynx (7) | 18 | 16 | .529 | 8 | 9–8 | 9–8 | 9–7 |
| 5 | Dallas Wings (8) | 15 | 19 | .441 | 11 | 10–7 | 5–12 | 7–9 |
| 6 | e –Las Vegas Aces | 14 | 20 | .412 | 12 | 8–9 | 6–11 | 4–12 |
| # | Eastern Conference vte | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Conf. |
| 1 | Atlanta Dream (2) | 23 | 11 | .676 | – | 13–4 | 10–7 | 12–4 |
| 2 | Washington Mystics (3) | 22 | 12 | .647 | 1 | 12–5 | 10–7 | 12–4 |
| 3 | Connecticut Sun (4) | 21 | 13 | .618 | 2 | 13–4 | 8–9 | 9–7 |
| 4 | e – Chicago Sky | 13 | 21 | .382 | 10 | 7–10 | 6–11 | 6–10 |
| 5 | e – New York Liberty | 7 | 27 | .206 | 16 | 4–13 | 3–14 | 6–10 |
| 6 | e – Indiana Fever | 6 | 28 | .176 | 17 | 2–15 | 4–13 | 3–13 |
Notes
    (#) – Conference Standing, Playoff Seeds shown to the right of team name
    x – Clinched Playoff Berth
    e – Eliminated from playoffs

### Playoffs

| First round: Single elimination (Aug. 21) | First round: Single elimination (Aug. 21) | First round: Single elimination (Aug. 21) | Second round: Single elimination (Aug. 23) | Second round: Single elimination (Aug. 23) | Second round: Single elimination (Aug. 23) | Semifinals: Best-of-five (Aug. 26 – Sept. 4) | Semifinals: Best-of-five (Aug. 26 – Sept. 4) | Semifinals: Best-of-five (Aug. 26 – Sept. 4) | Semifinals: Best-of-five (Aug. 26 – Sept. 4) | Semifinals: Best-of-five (Aug. 26 – Sept. 4) | Semifinals: Best-of-five (Aug. 26 – Sept. 4) | Semifinals: Best-of-five (Aug. 26 – Sept. 4) | WNBA Finals: Best-of-five (Sept. 7 – Sept. 12) | WNBA Finals: Best-of-five (Sept. 7 – Sept. 12) | WNBA Finals: Best-of-five (Sept. 7 – Sept. 12) | WNBA Finals: Best-of-five (Sept. 7 – Sept. 12) | WNBA Finals: Best-of-five (Sept. 7 – Sept. 12) |
| | | | | | | 1 | Seattle Storm | 91 | 91 | 66 | 84 | 94 | | | | | |
| | | | 4 | Connecticut Sun | 86 | 5 | Phoenix Mercury | 87 | 87 | 86 | 86 | 84 | | | | | |
| 5 | Phoenix Mercury | 101 | 5 | Phoenix Mercury | 96 | | | | | | | | 1 | Seattle Storm | 89 | 75 | 98 |
| 8 | Dallas Wings | 83 | | | | | | | | | | | 3 | Washington Mystics | 76 | 73 | 82 |
| | | | | | | 2 | Atlanta Dream | 84 | 78 | 81 | 76 | 81 | | | | | |
| | | | 3 | Washington Mystics | 96 | 3 | Washington Mystics | 87 | 75 | 76 | 97 | 86 | | | | | |
| 6 | Los Angeles Sparks | 75 | 6 | Los Angeles Sparks | 64 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 7 | Minnesota Lynx | 68 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Note: Teams re-seeded after second round and semi-finals.

## Summary

The Mystics' regular home of Capital One Arena was not available during the 2018 postseason due to renovations. The team had played its previous home playoff games at Charles Smith Center on the campus of George Washington University in Washington's Foggy Bottom neighborhood, but that venue would also be unavailable for the Finals due to scheduling issues. The team then moved its home Finals games to EagleBank Arena at George Mason University near Fairfax, Virginia.

### Game 1

In Game 1 of the WNBA Finals, Jewell Loyd came up big, leading the Storm in points and rebounds. Loyd scored 23 points on 9-of-12 shooting and regular season MVP Breanna Stewart added 20 points in a 13-point Storm win. The Storm went on a 16–4 run during the second quarter and never looked back. Seattle led by as many as 27 in the third quarter.
* ESPNews
* September 7 9:00 PM ET
* Box Score
Washington Mystics 76, Seattle Storm 89 :
| Scoring by quarter: 13–24, 19–24, 21–29, 23–12 |||
| Pts: Atkins (23) Rebs: Delle Donne, Hawkins (7) Asts: Cloud (5) | Pts: Loyd (23) Rebs: Clark, Howard, Loyd (5) Asts: Bird (7) |
* KeyArena Attendance: 11,486 Referees: Michael Price Eric Brewton Maj Forsberg Cheryl Flores

### Game 2

Game 2 of the finals was a back and forth affair. In the first quarter, the Storm started quickly and held a 9-point lead. However, the Mystics came on strong in the second quarter and took a 4-point lead into halftime. The Storm cut the lead to 3 at the end of the third quarter and eventually prevailed in the final period. Seattle was now one win short of its third WNBA title. Since the WNBA Finals went to a best-of-five format in 2005, no team has gone down 0–2 and forced a game five.
* ABC
* September 9 3:30 PM ET
* Box Score
Washington Mystics 73, Seattle Storm 75 :
| Scoring by quarter: 16–25, 24–11, 21–22, 12–17 |||
| Pts: Delle Donne (17) Rebs: Sanders (5) Asts: Toliver (3) | Pts: Stewart (19) Rebs: Howard (11) Asts: Bird (4) |
* KeyArena Attendance: 14,212 Referees: Kurt Walker Maj Forsberg Billy Smith Cheryl Flores

### Game 3

In Game 3, Seattle dominated the first half, particularly in the second quarter. By halftime, the Storm held a 17-point lead. Washington showed life in the third quarter, pulling to within five points, but Seattle quickly responded with an 8–0 run to reclaim control. From there, the Storm put the finishing touches on their third title as Finals MVP Breanna Stewart finished with a series-high 30 points while Sue Bird managed 10 assists. Bird became the only player to have been a member of all three of the Storm's championship teams.
* ESPN2
* September 12 8 PM ET
* Box Score
Seattle Storm 98, Washington Mystics 82 :
| Scoring by quarter: 20–16, 27–14, 21–23, 29–29 |||
| Pts: Stewart (30) Rebs: Howard (14) Asts: Bird (10) | Pts: Delle Donne (23) Rebs: Delle Donne (5) Asts: Toliver (5) |
* EagleBank Arena Attendance: 9,164 Referees: Roy Gulbeya Brenda Pantoja Byron Jarrett Billy Smith