# 2018 Atlanta Dream season

The 2018 WNBA season was the 11th season for the Atlanta Dream of the Women's National Basketball Association. The team began its season on May 20, 2018, against the Dallas Wings.
The Dream started the season slowly, going 2–2 in May with both losses coming to Dallas. The team continued to not be able to build momentum in June, posting a 5–6 record. The team started well in the month, going on a three game win streak, but couldn't continue that run, winning just 2 of the final 7 games in the month. However, the Dream found another gear in July. The Dream went on an 8 game winning streak and head coach Nicki Collen was awarded the Coach of the Month. The team finished the month 9–2 and in prime playoff position. The team continued its run in August, going 6–1 with their only loss on the road against Phoenix. Collen was again voted coach of the month. However, on August 9, the team lost their star Angel McCoughtry for the season with torn ligaments in her left knee. The team finished a franchise–best 23–11 which entered them into the 2018 WNBA Playoffs as the second seed.
As the second seed, Atlanta earned a double bye into the semifinal round. There, Atlanta faced off against the Washington Mystics. The Mystics were the third seed, finishing one game behind Atlanta in the regular season. The series was a close one, with the Mystics star Elena Delle Donne getting injured in game 3. However, the Dream were not able to capitalize and eventually lost the series 2 games to 3.

## Transactions
### WNBA draft

| Round | Pick | Player | Nationality | School/team/country |
| 2 | 15 | Monique Billings | United States | UCLA |
| 2 | 16 | Kristy Wallace | Australia | Baylor |
| 3 | 27 | Mackenzie Engram | United States | Georgia |

### Trades and Roster Changes

| Date | Transaction |
| January 1, 2018 | Cored Angel McCoughtry |
| January 1, 2018 | Exercised 4th-Year Team Option on Bria Holmes and Imani McGee-Stafford |
| January 1, 2018 | Extended a Qualifying Offer to Damiris Dantas |
| January 16, 2018 | Bria Holmes to miss season due to Pregnancy |
| February 1, 2018 | Signed Renee Montgomery |
| February 1, 2018 | Signed Maggie Lucas to a training-camp contract |
| February 2, 2018 | Signed Jessica Breland |
| February 8, 2018 | Signed Angel McCoughtry |
| February 13, 2018 | Signed Adaora Elonu to a training-camp contract |
| February 14, 2018 | Signed Damiris Dantas |
| March 9, 2018 | Signed Blake Dietrick to a training-camp contract |
| April 3, 2018 | Signed Elizabeth Williams to a Multi-Year Extension |
| April 5, 2018 | Signed Yelena Leuchanka to a training-camp contract |
| April 12, 2018 | Traded Bria Holmes to the Connecticut Sun in exchange for a Second Round Pick in 2018 and 2019 |
| April 13, 2018 | Signed Alexa Hart and Rosemarie Julien to training-camp contracts |
| April 13, 2018 | Waived Yelena Leuchanka |
| April 18, 2018 | Signed Mackenzie Engram to a rookie-scale contract |
| April 19, 2018 | Signed Monique Billings to a rookie-scale contract |
| May 4, 2018 | Waived Alexa Hart |
| May 13, 2018 | Waived Rosemarie Julien |
| May 16, 2018 | Waived Mackenzie Engram |
| May 17, 2018 | Waived Adaora Elonu |
| June 30, 2018 | Waived Maggie Lucas |
| July 4, 2018 | Signed Alexis Prince to a 7-day contract |
| July 9, 2018 | Traded Layshia Clarendon and 2nd Round Pick in the 2019 WNBA draft to the Connecticut Sun in exchange for Alex Bentley |
| July 11, 2018 | Signed Alexis Prince to a 2nd 7-day contract |
| July 18, 2018 | Signed Alexis Prince to a 3rd 7-day contract |
| July 25, 2018 | Signed Alexis Prince |
| August 7, 2018 | Signed Tiffany Hayes to a Multi-Year Extension |
| August 10, 2018 | Signed Adaora Elonu to a 7-day contract |
| August 17, 2018 | Signed Adaora Elonu |

## Roster
### Depth

| Pos. | Starter | Bench |
| C | Elizabeth Williams | Imani McGee-Stafford |
| PF | Jessica Breland | Damiris Dantas Monique Billings Adaora Elonu |
| SF | Angel McCoughtry | Brittney Sykes Alexis Prince |
| SG | Tiffany Hayes | Alex Bentley |
| PG | Renee Montgomery | Blake Dietrick |

## Schedule
### Preseason

2018 Schedule: Preseason :
Total: 1–1 (Home: 0–0; Road: 1–1)
GameDateOpponentScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation/AttendanceRecord
1
May 6
@ Chicago
W 78–61
Hayes (16)
Williams (7)
Montgomery (7)
Wintrust Arena
1–0
2
May 11
vs. Connecticut
L 58–74
Clarendon (13)
Williams (6)
Montgomery (3)
Webster Bank Arena 1,610
1–1 :
2018 pre-season schedule :

### Regular season

2018 Regular Season Total: 23–11 (Home: 13–4; Road: 10–7) :
May: 2–2 (Home: 1–1; Road: 1–1)
GameDateOpponentScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation/AttendanceRecord
1
May 20
@ Dallas
L 78–101
3 Tied (14)
Sykes (7)
Hayes (6)
College Park Center 5,907
0–1
2
May 23
@ Chicago
W 81–63
Hayes (22)
Breland (10)
Williams (6)
Wintrust Arena 6,147
1–1
3
May 26
Dallas
L 80–87
McCoughtry (19)
Breland (10)
Hayes (4)
McCamish Pavilion 4,749
1–2
4
May 29
Minnesota
W 76–74
Hayes (20)
Tied (7)
Tied (5)
McCamish Pavilion 3,785
2–2 :
June: 5–6 (Home: 3–1; Road: 2–5)
GameDateOpponentScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation/AttendanceRecord
5
June 3
Phoenix
L 71–78
McCoughtry (21)
Tied (10)
Clarendon (3)
McCamish Pavilion 3,795
2–3
6
June 5
Connecticut
W 82–77
Hayes (22)
Breland (9)
Tied (4)
McCamish Pavilion 2,830
3–3
7
June 8
@ Las Vegas
W 87–83
Hayes (24)
Tied (9)
McCoughtry (6)
Mandalay Bay Events Center 5,913
4–3
8
June 10
@ Seattle
W 67–64
Hayes (23)
Breland (14)
4 Tied (2)
KeyArena 6,345
5–3
9
June 12
@ Los Angeles
L 64–72
Hayes (16)
Breland (6)
Hayes (3)
Staples Center 9,215
5–4
10
June 14
Indiana
W 72–67
Hayes (23)
Breland (13)
McCoughtry (4)
McCamish Pavilion 6,561
6–4
11
June 16
@ Indiana
L 64–96
McCoughtry (19)
McCoughtry (8)
Clarendon (4)
Bankers Life Fieldhouse 6,234
6–5
12
June 19
@ New York
L 72–79
McCoughtry (39)
McCoughtry (14)
McCoughtry (4)
Westchester County Center 1,627
6–6
13
June 22
Connecticut
W 75–70
McCoughtry (25)
Williams (10)
Sykes (4)
McCamish Pavilion 4,047
7–6
14
June 27
@ Chicago
L 80–93
Montgomery (19)
Breland (7)
Montgomery (5)
Wintrust Arena 8,521
7–7
15
June 29
@ Minnesota
L 74–85
McGee-Stafford (15)
Breland (10)
Montgomery (6)
Target Center 9,209
7–8 :
July: 9–2 (Home: 5–2; Road: 4–0)
GameDateOpponentScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation/AttendanceRecord
16
July 1
@ Indiana
W 87–83
Sykes (20)
Tied (6)
Sykes (7)
Bankers Life Fieldhouse 5,277
8–8
17
July 6
Seattle
L 86–95
McCoughtry (26)
Sykes (6)
Dantas (5)
McCamish Pavilion 3,935
8–9
18
July 8
Phoenix
W 76–70
Hayes (18)
Breland (12)
McCoughtry (4)
McCamish Pavilion 3,952
9–9
19
July 11
@ Washington
W 106–89
McCoughtry (26)
Breland (10)
Breland (7)
Capital One Arena 11,354
10–9
20
July 13
Indiana
W 98–74
Hayes (16)
Breland (8)
McCoughtry (7)
McCamish Pavilion 3,807
11–9
21
July 15
Washington
W 80–77
Sykes (17)
Breland (10)
Bentley (4)
McCamish Pavilion 3,880
12–9
22
July 17
@ Connecticut
W 86–83
McCoughtry (24)
Breland (11)
Tied (4)
Mohegan Sun Arena 5,555
13–9
23
July 19
New York
W 82–68
Montgomery (24)
Tied (12)
McCoughtry (6)
McCamish Pavilion 3,074
14–9
24
July 22
Seattle
W 87–74
Williams (17)
Tied (8)
Hayes (5)
McCamish Pavilion 4,916
15–9
25
July 24
@ Los Angeles
W 81–87
McCoughtry (19)
McCoughtry (7)
Montgomery (6)
Staples Center 9,324
16–9
26
July 31
Washington
L 71–86
Hayes (18)
Williams (9)
Sykes (5)
McCamish Pavilion 3,648
16–10 :
August: 6–1 (Home: 3–0; Road: 3–1)
GameDateOpponentScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation/AttendanceRecord
27
August 3
Chicago
W 89–74
McCoughtry (21)
Breland (9)
Bentley (7)
McCamish Pavilion 5,120
17–10
28
August 5
@ Minnesota
W 86–66
Hayes (28)
Tied (8)
Sykes (6)
Target Center 9,333
18–10
29
August 7
Las Vegas
W 109–100
Tied (22)
Breland (11)
Bentley (8)
McCamish Pavilion 4,033
19–10
30
August 9
Los Angeles
W 79–73
Breland (19)
Breland (9)
Bentley (8)
McCamish Pavilion 4,235
20–10
31
August 11
Dallas
W 92–82
Montgomery (24)
Williams (9)
3 Tied (5)
McCamish Pavilion 4,937
21–10
32
August 12
@ New York
W 86–77
Montgomery (30)
Tied (7)
Sykes (4)
Westchester County Center 2,362
22–10
33
August 17
@ Phoenix
L 95–104
Bentley (24)
Williams (8)
Bentley (6)
Talking Stick Resort Arena 11,177
22–11
34
August 19
@ Las Vegas
W 93–78
Williams (20)
Williams (7)
Montgomery (9)
Mandalay Bay Events Center 5,737
23–11 :
2018 season schedule :

### Playoffs

2016 Playoffs: Total: 2–3 (Home: 1–2; Road: 1–1) :
WNBA Semifinals vs. Washington (Lost Series 2-3)
GameDateOpponentScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation/AttendanceRecord
1
August 26
Washington
L 84–87
Bentley (19)
Williams (14)
5 Tied (2)
McCamish Pavilion 5,086
0–1
2
August 28
Washington
W 78–75
Bentley (22)
Breland (14)
Hayes (6)
McCamish Pavilion 3,813
1–1
3
August 31
Washington
W 81–76
Hayes (23)
Breland (11)
Montgomery (3)
Charles Smith Center 3,867
2–1
4
September 2
Washington
76–97
Tied (12)
Breland (8)
Montgomery (10)
Charles Smith Center 3,722
2–2
5
September 4
Washington
81–86
Bentley (16)
Breland (12)
Hayes (4)
McCamish Pavilion 4,435
2–3 :
2018 playoff schedule :

## Standings

| # | 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.

## Statistics
### Regular Season

| Player | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
| Tiffany Hayes | 31 | 29 | 28.9 | .441 | .321 | .817 | 3.6 | 2.7 | 1.2 | 0.2 | 17.2 |
| Angel McCoughtry | 29 | 28 | 27.6 | .420 | .276 | .836 | 6.0 | 3.0 | 1.3 | 0.6 | 16.5 |
| Renee Montgomery | 34 | 34 | 27.5 | .389 | .371 | .881 | 1.7 | 3.7 | 1.3 | 0.1 | 10.3 |
| Brittney Sykes | 29 | 7 | 20.7 | .411 | .268 | .663 | 3.5 | 2.3 | 0.3 | 0.6 | 9.7 |
| Elizabeth Williams | 33 | 32 | 26.8 | .548 | .000 | .563 | 5.8 | 1.4 | 0.8 | 1.8 | 9.1 |
| Alex Bentley | 16 | 0 | 20.8 | .376 | .310 | .529 | 1.5 | 3.4 | 0.9 | 0.1 | 8.7 |
| Jessica Breland | 34 | 34 | 26.4 | .428 | .000 | .750 | 7.9 | 2.0 | 1.1 | 1.9 | 8.3 |
| Damiris Dantas | 19 | 0 | 13.4 | .433 | .238 | .722 | 2.4 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 5.4 |
| Alexis Prince | 2 | 0 | 3.0 | .600 | 1.000 | .000 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 3.5 |
| Monique Billings | 32 | 0 | 11.0 | .441 | .000 | .750 | 2.8 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 3.3 |
| Imani McGee-Stafford | 29 | 2 | 10.5 | .453 | .000 | .467 | 3.4 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 2.9 |
| Blake Dietrick | 26 | 0 | 7.2 | .343 | .391 | .667 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 1.4 |
| Adaora Elonu | 1 | 0 | 1.0 | .000 | .000 | .000 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |

### Playoffs

| Player | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
| Tiffany Hayes | 5 | 5 | 33.6 | 44.4 | 37.5 | 80.0 | 6.2 | 3.4 | 1.4 | 0.2 | 16.4 |
| Alex Bentley | 5 | 0 | 24.0 | 44.4 | 32.0 | 75.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 0.6 | 0.0 | 15.6 |
| Brittney Sykes | 5 | 5 | 27.0 | 47.3 | 41.2 | 50.0 | 3.6 | 1.6 | 0.8 | 0.2 | 12.6 |
| Elizabeth Williams | 5 | 5 | 31.4 | 51.1 | 0.0 | 54.5 | 8.8 | 1.0 | 0.6 | 1.2 | 10.8 |
| Jessica Breland | 5 | 5 | 31.0 | 37.0 | 0.0 | 83.3 | 10.8 | 2.8 | 0.8 | 2.8 | 9.0 |
| Renee Montgomery | 5 | 5 | 31.6 | 29.3 | 28.6 | 84.6 | 2.0 | 4.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 8.6 |
| Monique Billings | 5 | 0 | 12.8 | 47.4 | 0.0 | 57.9 | 2.6 | 0.8 | 0.0 | 0.6 | 5.8 |
| Imani McGee-Stafford | 4 | 0 | 5.8 | 33.3 | 0.0 | 50.0 | 2.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 1.3 |
| Adaora Elonu | 1 | 0 | 4.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 50.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Blake Dietrick | 3 | 0 | 5.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.3 | 0.7 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |

## Awards and honors

| Recipient | Award | Date awarded |
| Tiffany Hayes | Eastern Conference Player of the Week | June 11, 2018 |
| Tiffany Hayes | Eastern Conference Player of the Week | July 23, 2018 |
| Tiffany Hayes | Eastern Conference Player of the Week | August 6, 2018 |
| Tiffany Hayes | Eastern Conference Player of the Month - July | August 1, 2018 |
| Angel McCoughtry | Eastern Conference Player of the Week | June 24, 2018 |
| Angel McCoughtry | WNBA All-Star Selection | July 17, 2018 |
| Jessica Breland | Eastern Conference Player of the Week | July 15, 2018 |
| Nicki Collen | WNBA Coach of the Month - July | August 2, 2018 |
| Nicki Collen | WNBA Coach of the Month - August | August 20, 2018 |
| Nicki Collen | WNBA Coach of the Year | August 28, 2018 |
| Chris Sienko | WNBA Basketball Executive of the Year | August 28, 2018 |