# 2018 Los Angeles Sparks season

The 2018 WNBA season was the 22nd season for the Los Angeles Sparks of the Women's National Basketball Association. The season tipped off on May 20.
The Sparks started out strong with a 4–1 record in May. They won their season opener in a re-match of the 2017 WNBA Finals against the Minnesota Lynx. They continued their strong run into June where the team posted an 8–4 record. The Sparks won 6 of 7 to start the month. Two of their June losses game to the eventual WNBA Champion Seattle Storm. However, things started to get shaky in July. The Sparks went 4–6. However, all but one loss came to eventual playoff teams. The other loss was to Indiana, who ended the season with the worst record. The Sparks finished with a 4–4 record in August, including 3–0 at home. However, the Sparks lost 4 of their last 5 (again all against playoff teams).
Their final record of 19–15 was good enough to secure the 6th seed in the 2018 WNBA Playoffs. They met the Lynx in the first round, in a re-match of the last three WNBA Finals. The Sparks prevailed 75–68 at the Staples Center. In the second round, they faced the Washington Mystics in Washington, but were defeated 64–96 to end their season.

## Transactions
### WNBA draft

| Round | Pick | Player | Nationality | School/Team/Country |
| 1 | 11 | Maria Vadeeva | Russia | Dynamo Kursk (Russia) |
| 2 | 23 | Shakayla Thomas | United States | Florida State |
| 3 | 35 | Julia Reisingerová | Czech Republic | Femeni Sant Adrià (Spain) |

### Trades/Roster Changes

| Date | Details |
| February 1, 2018 | Re-sign G Odyssey Sims |
| February 1, 2018 | Sign G Ana Dabovic and G Karlie Samuelson |
| February 6, 2018 | Re-sign G Alana Beard |
| February 14, 2018 | Sign G Cappie Pondexter |
| February 21, 2018 | Re-sign F Tiffany Jackson |

## Game log
### Preseason

2018 pre-season game log :
May: 1–2 (Home: 1–0; Road: 0–2)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
1
May 7
@ Connecticut
L 65–68
Thomas (17)
Thomas (8)
Pondexter (3)
Mohegan Sun Arena
0–1
2
May 8
vs. New York
L 75–81
Pondexter (17)
Wiese (9)
Pondexter (5)
Mohegan Sun Arena 1,106
0–2
3
May 12
China
W 82–61
Gray (17)
Carson (5)
Gray (10)
Hutto-Patterson Gym 1,650
1–2 :
2018 pre-season schedule :

### Regular season

2018 game log Total: 19–15 (Home: 11–6; Road: 8–9) :
May: 3–1 (Home: 1–0; Road: 2–1)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
1
May 20
@ Minnesota
W 77–76
Sims (21)
Ogwumike (9)
Gray (8)
Target Center 13,032
1–0
2
May 22
@ Indiana
W 87–70
Ogwumike (25)
Ogwumike (10)
Gray (8)
Bankers Life Fieldhouse 4,742
2–0
3
May 24
@ Connecticut
L 94–102
Gray (21)
Tied (4)
Sims (7)
Mohegan Sun Arena 5,571
2–1
4
May 27
Phoenix
W 80–72
Gray (23)
Ogwumike (8)
Gray (8)
Staples Center 11,201
3–1 :
June
: 8–4 (Home: 6–1; Road: 2–3)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
5
June 3
Minnesota
W 77–69
Parker (19)
Parker (10)
Gray (6)
Staples Center 13,500
4–1
6
June 7
Seattle
L 63–88
Ogwumike (19)
Ogwumike (6)
Sims (5)
Staples Center 9,204
4–2
7
June 10
Chicago
W 77–59
Parker (24)
Ogwumike (8)
Sims (5)
Staples Center 8,239
5–2
8
June 12
Atlanta
W 72–64
Parker (18)
Ogwumike (10)
Gray (7)
Staples Center 9,215
6–2
9
June 15
@ Washington
W 97–86
Parker (23)
Parker (7)
Parker (11)
Capital One Arena 5,289
7–2
10
June 17
@ Chicago
W 81–72
Gray (21)
Tied (11)
Gray (6)
Wintrust Arena 5,584
8–2
11
June 19
Indiana
W 74–55
Parker (15)
Ogwumike (7)
Gray (7)
Staples Center 8,857
9–2
12
June 22
@ Dallas
L 72–101
Ogwumike (17)
Parker (6)
Parker (6)
College Park Center 5,672
9–3
13
June 24
New York
80–54
Williams (25)
Ogwumike (10)
Gray (11)
Staples Center 9,203
10–3
14
June 26
Dallas
W 87–83
Parker (29)
Vadeeva (6)
Parker (7)
Staples Center 10,002
11–3
15
June 28
@ Seattle
L 72–81
Parker (27)
Parker (11)
Parker (3)
KeyArena 8,447
11–4
16
June 29
@ Las Vegas
L 78–94
Gray (22)
Vadeeva (7)
Beard (6)
Mandalay Bay Events Center 5,124
11–5 :
July
: 4–6 (Home: 1–5; Road: 3–1)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
17
July 1
Las Vegas
W 87–71
Lavender (17)
Ogwumike (7)
3 Tied (6)
Staples Center 12,003
12–5
18
July 3
Connecticut
L 72–73
Ogwumike (20)
Parker (8)
Parker (4)
Staples Center 6,280
12–6
19
July 5
@ Minnesota
L 72–83
Parker (22)
Ogwumike (8)
Gray (8)
Target Center 9,303
12–7
20
July 7
Washington
L 74–83
Gray (23)
Ogwumike (13)
Ogwumike (5)
Staples Center 10,163
12–8
21
July 10
@ Seattle
W 77–75 (OT)
Parker (21)
Tied (9)
Parker (10)
KeyArena 9,686
13–8
22
July 12
Dallas
L 77–92
Parker (21)
Parker (7)
Gray (5)
Staples Center 13,502
13–9
23
July 15
@ Las Vegas
W 99–78
Parker (34)
Parker (11)
Parker (9)
Mandalay Bay Events Center 4,810
14–9
24
July 20
Indiana
L 76–78
Parker (24)
Parker (12)
Parker (7)
Staples Center 10,532
14–10
25
July 22
@ Chicago
W 93–76
Parker (23)
Parker (12)
Gray (9)
Wintrust Arena 6,477
15–10
26
July 24
Atlanta
L 71–81
Gray (18)
Parker (9)
Parker (5)
Staples Center 9,324
15–11 :
August
: 4–4 (Home: 3–0; Road: 1–4)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
27
August 2
Minnesota
W 79–57
Parker (23)
Parker (10)
Gray (9)
Staples Center 9,542
16-11
28
August 5
Phoenix
W 78–75
Gray (24)
Parker (14)
Parker (8)
Staples Center 19,076
17-11
29
August 8
@ New York
W 82–81
Gray (19)
Parker (8)
Parker (6)
Westchester County Center 2,481
18-11
30
August 9
@ Atlanta
L 73–79
Parker (20)
Parker (12)
Tied (4)
McCamish Pavilion 4,235
18-12
31
August 12
@ Phoenix
L 78–86
Parker (23)
Parker (8)
Sims (6)
Talking Stick Resort Arena 10,618
18-13
32
August 14
New York
W 74–66
Gray (26)
Parker (10)
Gray (5)
Staples Center 11,067
19-13
33
August 17
@ Washington
L 67–69
Williams (14)
Tied (8)
Parker (7)
Capital One Arena 7,400
19-14
34
August 19
@ Connecticut
L 86–89
Parker (20)
Parker (10)
Gray (7)
Mohegan Sun Arena 8,040
19-15 :
2018 season schedule :

### Playoffs

2018 playoff game log Total: 1–1 (Home: 1–0; Road: 0–1) :
WNBA First Round: 1–0 (Home: 1–0; Road: 0–0)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceSeries
1
August 21
Minnesota
W 75–68
Gray (26)
Parker (6)
Gray (6)
Staples Center 8,598
1–0 :
WNBA Second Round: 0–1 (Home: 0–0; Road: 0–1)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceSeries
1
August 23
@ Washington
L 64–96
Parker (16)
Parker (8)
3 Tied (3)
Capital One Arena 3,548
1–1 :
2018 playoff schedule :

## 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 |

## 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.

## Statistics
### Regular season

| Player | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | PPG | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG |
| Candace Parker | 31 | 30 | 30.6 | .471 | .345 | .808 | 17.9 | 8.2 | 4.7 | 1.2 | 1.1 |
| Nneka Ogwumike | 27 | 27 | 30.8 | .525 | .346 | .816 | 15.5 | 6.8 | 2.0 | 1.6 | 0.4 |
| Chelsea Gray | 34 | 34 | 32.7 | .484 | .392 | .835 | 14.9 | 3.4 | 5.1 | 1.4 | 0.2 |
| Odyssey Sims | 34 | 24 | 25.5 | .388 | .273 | .722 | 8.2 | 2.5 | 2.8 | 0.6 | 0.0 |
| Essence Carson | 34 | 15 | 23.1 | .435 | .361 | .938 | 7.5 | 2.6 | 0.9 | 0.9 | 0.4 |
| Riquna Williams | 33 | 3 | 16.5 | .407 | .375 | .800 | 7.1 | 1.4 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.1 |
| Jantel Lavender | 30 | 7 | 17.0 | .428 | .188 | .900 | 5.2 | 3.7 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 0.2 |
| Alana Beard | 30 | 30 | 25.5 | .392 | .400 | .810 | 4.0 | 3.3 | 1.7 | 1.5 | 0.2 |
| Maria Vadeeva | 25 | 0 | 8.2 | .527 | .333 | .750 | 3.6 | 2.2 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| Karlie Samuelson | 20 | 0 | 4.2 | .389 | .313 | .000 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.3 |
| Sydney Wiese | 11 | 0 | 3.3 | .000 | .000 | .000 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 |

## Awards and honors

| Recipient | Award | Date awarded |
| Chelsea Gray | WNBA Western Conference Player of the Week | May 29, 2018 |
| Candace Parker | WNBA Western Conference Player of the Week | July 15, 2018 |
| Nneka Ogwumike | WNBA All-Star Selection | July 17, 2018 |
| Chelsea Gray | WNBA All-Star Selection | July 17, 2018 |
| Candace Parker | WNBA All-Star Captain | July 17, 2018 |
| Candace Parker | WNBA Western Conference Player of the Week | August 6, 2018 |
| Alana Beard | WNBA Defensive Player of the Year Award | August 31, 2018 |