# 2017 Los Angeles Sparks season

The 2017 WNBA season was the 21st season for the Los Angeles Sparks of the Women's National Basketball Association. The Sparks were the defending WNBA champions. The season tipped off on May 13.
The Sparks started the season winning two games, losing two games and then winning two more games. This stretch was followed by a loss to Dallas before the Sparks won eight straight games. Their winning streak was ended as they lost a Finals re-match with Minnesota. They lost the following game to Seattle before winning five of their next six games. They started August slowly, going 2–2 in their first four games of the month, but finished the month on a five game winning streak. The Sparks only had two regular season games in September, and they won them both. They finished the regular season with a 26–8 record, and secured the second seed in the 2017 WNBA Playoffs, finishing one game out of the first seed.
As the second seed in the playoffs, the Sparks earned a bye into the Semifinals. There, they faced-off against the Phoenix Mercury. Los Angeles had won the regular season series between the two teams 3–0 and won the playoff series by the same result. The closest game was Game 3, which Los Angeles won 89–87 to complete the sweep. The victory setup a finals re-match with Minnesota. The Sparks won the first and third games of the finals, but could not finish off the Lynx and lost the Finals 2 games to 3. The closest game was Game 1, which Los Angeles won by a single point. Minnesota won the final two games of the series by eleven points and nine points.

## WNBA draft

| Round | Pick | Player | Nationality | School/Team/Country |
| 1 | 11 | Sydney Wiese | United States | Oregon State |
| 3 | 35 | Saicha Grant-Allen | Canada | Dayton |

## Trades and Roster Changes

| Date | Transaction | Transaction |
| February 8, 2017 | Alana Beard resigned with Los Angeles Sparks |
| July 28, 2017 | Signed Sandrine Gruda |

## Game log
### Preseason

2017 pre-season game log :
May: 1–2 (Home: 1–0; Road: 0–2)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
1
May 2
New York
L 65-81
Samuelson (9)
Wiese (6)
Tied (2)
Mohegan Sun Arena 2,782
0-1
2
May 3
Connecticut
L 62-79
Sims (12)
Warley-Talbert (11)
Sims (5)
Mohegan Sun Arena 2,809
0-2
3
May 6
San Antonio
W 73-59
Ruef (18)
Ruef (7)
Gray (5)
Pasadena College 1,000
1-2 :
2017 pre-season schedule :

### Regular season

2017 game log Total: 26–8 (Home: 16–1; Road: 10–7) :
May: 3–2 (Home: 2–0; Road: 1–2)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
1
May 13
Seattle
W 78-68
Ogwumike (23)
Jackson (8)
Gray (8)
Staples Center 10,603
1-0
2
May 19
Washington
W 99-89
Ogwumike (23)
Parker (8)
Parker (5)
Staples Center 12,127
2-0
3
May 24
Indiana
L 90-93
Ogwumike (24)
Parker (12)
Parker (6)
Bankers Life Fieldhouse 5,875
2-1
4
May 27
Atlanta
L 73-75
Gray (25)
Ogwumike (7)
Parker (6)
McCamish Pavilion 4,253
2-2
5
May 30
New York
W 90-75
Ogwumike (22)
Parker (11)
Gray (6)
Madison Square Garden 8,108
3-2 :
June
: 8–1 (Home: 4–0; Road: 4–1)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
6
June 6
Chicago
W 79-70
Ogwumike (20)
Ogwumike (11)
Gray (5)
Staples Center 8,523
4-2
7
June 9
Dallas
L 90-96
Ogwumike (28)
Ogwumike (13)
Sims (5)
College Park Center 3,169
4-3
8
June 10
Phoenix
W 89-87
Gray (24)
Tied (5)
Gray (8)
Talking Stick Resort Arena 10,223
5-3
9
June 13
Dallas
W 97-87
Gray (24)
Parker (7)
Tied (5)
Staples Center 7,233
6-3
10
June 15
San Antonio
W 80-75
Parker (20)
Ogwumike (9)
Parker (4)
Staples Center 9,104
7-3
11
June 18
Phoenix
W 90-57
Ogwumike (18)
Parker (8)
Parker (6)
Staples Center 9,916
8-3
12
June 24
Indiana
W 84-73
Ogwumike (21)
Parker (13)
Parker (7)
Bankers Life Fieldhouse 9,241
9-3
13
June 27
Connecticut
W 87-79
Ogwumike (21)
Ogwumike (9)
Gray (5)
Mohegan Sun Arena 6,899
10-3
14
June 30
Atlanta
W 85-76
Parker (21)
Parker (13)
Parker (5)
McCamish Pavilion 4,119
11-3 :
July
: 6–3 (Home: 5–1; Road: 1–2)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
15
July 2
Washington
W 76-69
Tied 17
Parker (11)
Parker (4)
Staples Center 9,185
12-3
16
July 6
Minnesota
L 77-88
Ogwumike (27)
Ogwumike (14)
Ogwumike (5)
Xcel Energy Center 9,821
12-4
17
July 8
Seattle
L 69-81
Ogwumike (21)
Ogwumike (9)
Gray (6)
KeyArena 7,104
1125
18
July 13
Connecticut
W 87-77
Ogwumike (29)
Ogwumike (11)
Parker (6)
Staples Center 9,918
13-5
19
July 17
Indiana
W 80-62
Gray (16)
Ogwumike (12)
Ogwumike (6)
Staples Center 11,386
14-5
20
July 20
Chicago
L 80-82
Ogwumike (24)
Ogwumike (10)
Gray (6)
Staples Center 16,166
14-6
21
July 25
Seattle
W 68-60
Parker (17)
Tied (10)
Gray (5)
Staples Center 10,012
15-6
22
July 28
San Antonio
W 85-73
Sims (22)
Parker (17)
Parker (11)
AT&T Center 5,777
16-6
23
July 30
Dallas
W 95-74
Parker (23)
Parker (10)
Tied (8)
Staples Center 11,053
17-6 :
August
: 4–2 (Home: 1–0; Road: 3–2)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
24
August 4
New York
W 87-84
Parker (24)
Gray (7)
Parker (6)
Staples Center 11,617
18-6
25
August 6
Dallas
L 79-85
Tied (21)
Parker (9)
Gray (4)
College Park Center 3,903
18-7
26
August 11
Minnesota
W 70-64
Gray (23)
Parker (10)
Sims (5)
Xcel Energy Center 11,533
19-7
27
August 13
New York
L 69-83
Sims (18)
Parker (7)
Sims (5)
Madison Square Garden 10,083
19-8
28
August 16
Washington
W 95-62
Parker (21)
Parker (7)
Sims (7)
Capital One Arena 7,279
20-8
29
August 18
Chicago
W 115-106
Ogwumike (32)
Parker (12)
Tied (10)
Allstate Arena 6,826
21-8
30
August 22
San Antonio
W 75-55
Ogwumike (22)
Ogwumike (14)
Parker (6)
Staples Center 12,433
22-8
31
August 24
Phoenix
W 82-67
Sims (28)
Ogwumike (10)
Sims (8)
Talking Stick Resort Arena 9,890
23-8
32
August 27
Minnesota
W 78-67
Parker (24)
Parker (10)
Gray (5)
Staples Center 19,282
24-8 :
September
: 2–0 (Home: 2–0; Road: 0–0)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
33
September 1
Atlanta
W 81-56
Parker (18)
Ogwumike (6)
Sims (7)
Staples Center 12,163
25-8
34
September 3
Connecticut
W 81-70
Ogwumike (21)
Parker (14)
Gray (7)
Staples Center 12,236
26-8 :
2017 season schedule :

### Playoffs

2017 playoff game log Total: 5–3 (Home: 3–1; Road: 2–2) :
WNBA Semifinals: 3–0 (Home: 2–0; Road: 1–0)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceSeries
1
September 12
Phoenix
W 79–66
Ogwumike (19)
Ogwumike (9)
Gray (6)
Staples Center 7,963
1–0
2
September 14
Phoenix
W 86–72
Parker (24)
Parker (13)
Tied (6)
Walter Pyramid 4,023
2–0
3
September 17
Phoenix
W 89–87
Sims (22)
Ogwumike (12)
Parker (11)
Talking Stick Resort Arena 12,043
3–0 :
WNBA Finals: 2–3 (Home: 1–1; Road: 1–2)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceSeries
1
September 24
Minnesota
W 85–84
Gray (27)
Parker (11)
Gray (6)
Williams Arena 11,823
1–0
2
September 26
Minnesota
L 70–68
Parker (17)
Ogwumike (13)
Parker (6)
Williams Arena 11,434
1–1
3
September 29
Minnesota
W 75–64
Tied (16)
Ogwumike (10)
Gray (7)
Staples Center 13,500
2–1
4
October 1
Minnesota
L 69–80
Ogwumike (17)
Tied (8)
Gray (9)
Staples Center 13,500
2–2
5
October 4
Minnesota
L 76-85
Parker (19)
Parker (15)
Gray (8)
Williams Arena 14,632
2-3 :
2017 playoff schedule :

## Standings

| # | Western Conference vte | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Conf. |
| 1 | Minnesota Lynx - (1) | 27 | 7 | .794 | – | 15–2 | 12–5 | 13–3 |
| 2 | Los Angeles Sparks - (2) | 26 | 8 | .765 | 1 | 16–1 | 10–7 | 12–4 |
| 3 | Phoenix Mercury - (5) | 18 | 16 | .529 | 9 | 9–8 | 9–8 | 7–9 |
| 4 | Dallas Wings - (7) | 16 | 18 | .471 | 11 | 10–7 | 6–11 | 7–9 |
| 5 | Seattle Storm - (8) | 15 | 19 | .441 | 12 | 10–7 | 5–12 | 8–8 |
| 6 | San Antonio Stars - e | 8 | 26 | .235 | 19 | 6–11 | 2–15 | 1–15 |

### Playoffs

| First round: Single elimination (Sept. 6) | First round: Single elimination (Sept. 6) | First round: Single elimination (Sept. 6) | Second round: Single elimination (Sept. 10) | Second round: Single elimination (Sept. 10) | Second round: Single elimination (Sept. 10) | Semifinals: Best-of-five (Sept. 12 – Sept. 17) | Semifinals: Best-of-five (Sept. 12 – Sept. 17) | Semifinals: Best-of-five (Sept. 12 – Sept. 17) | Semifinals: Best-of-five (Sept. 12 – Sept. 17) | Semifinals: Best-of-five (Sept. 12 – Sept. 17) | WNBA Finals: Best-of-five (Sept. 24 – Oct. 4) | WNBA Finals: Best-of-five (Sept. 24 – Oct. 4) | WNBA Finals: Best-of-five (Sept. 24 – Oct. 4) | WNBA Finals: Best-of-five (Sept. 24 – Oct. 4) | WNBA Finals: Best-of-five (Sept. 24 – Oct. 4) | WNBA Finals: Best-of-five (Sept. 24 – Oct. 4) | WNBA Finals: Best-of-five (Sept. 24 – Oct. 4) |
| | | | | | | 2 | Los Angeles Sparks | 79 | 86 | 89 | | | | | | | |
| | | | 4 | Connecticut Sun | 83 | 5 | Phoenix Mercury | 66 | 72 | 87 | | | | | | | |
| 5 | Phoenix Mercury | 79 | 5 | Phoenix Mercury | 88 | | | | | | 1 | Minnesota Lynx | 84 | 70 | 64 | 80 | 85 |
| 8 | Seattle Storm | 69 | | | | | | | | | 2 | Los Angeles Sparks | 85 | 68 | 75 | 69 | 76 |
| | | | | | | 1 | Minnesota Lynx | 101 | 93 | 81 | | | | | | | |
| | | | 3 | New York Liberty | 68 | 6 | Washington Mystics | 81 | 83 | 70 | | | | | | | |
| 6 | Washington Mystics | 86 | 6 | Washington Mystics | 82 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 7 | Dallas Wings | 76 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
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 |
| Nneka Ogwumike | 34 | 34 | 30.9 | 56.1% | 34.0% | 87.0% | 7.7 | 2.1 | 1.9 | 0.5 | 18.8 |
| Candace Parker | 33 | 33 | 30.5 | 47.8% | 35.4% | 75.6% | 8.4 | 4.3 | 1.5 | 1.7 | 16.9 |
| Chelsea Gray | 34 | 34 | 33.1 | 50.7% | 48.2% | 82.7% | 3.3 | 4.4 | 1.1 | 0.2 | 14.8 |
| Odyssey Sims | 31 | 14 | 24.3 | 44.7% | 19.0% | 88.6% | 1.9 | 3.5 | 1.5 | 0.2 | 9.6 |
| Jantel Lavender | 32 | 0 | 17.3 | 48.8% | 31.3% | 84.6% | 3.0 | 0.9 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 7.3 |
| Alana Beard | 34 | 34 | 30.8 | 49.7% | 31.6% | 80.4% | 3.3 | 2.2 | 2.1 | 0.5 | 6.9 |
| Riquna Williams | 23 | 6 | 17.7 | 32.1% | 27.0% | 86.4% | 1.4 | 0.7 | 0.8 | 0.1 | 6.4 |
| Essence Carson | 24 | 14 | 19.3 | 40.4% | 25.0% | 48.5% | 1.7 | 1.2 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 4.8 |
| Sydney Wiese | 28 | 0 | 7.9 | 38.3% | 40.0% | 50.0% | 0.8 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 2.3 |
| Tiffany Jackson | 26 | 1 | 5.7 | 46.2% | 0.0% | 62.5% | 1.2 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 1.1 |
| Sandrine Gruda | 7 | 0 | 4.0 | 36.4% | — | — | 0.6 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.1 |
| Ify Ibekwe | 6 | 0 | 3.8 | 11.1% | 0.0% | 66.7% | 0.8 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 1.0 |
| Maimouna Diarra | 10 | 0 | 2.0 | 20.0% | — | 50.0% | 1.1 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.3 |

## Awards and honors

| Recipient | Award | Date awarded |
| Candace Parker | Player of the Week | June 19, 2017 |
| Brian Agler | Coach of the Month - June | July 5, 2017 |
| Candace Parker | Player of the Week | July 31, 2017 |
| Candace Parker | Player of the Week | August 28, 2017 |
| Candace Parker | Player of the Month | August 2017 |
| Alana Beard | WNBA Defensive Player of the Year Award | September 12, 2017 |