2018 Los Angeles Sparks season
2018 Los Angeles Sparks season | |
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Coach | Brian Agler |
Arena | Staples Center |
Attendance | 10,642 per game |
Results | |
Record | 19–15 (.559) |
Place | 3rd (Western) |
Playoff finish | 6th seed, Lost in Second Round to Washington 64–96 |
Team Leaders | |
Points | Candace Parker – 17.9 ppg |
Rebounds | Candace Parker – 8.2 rpg |
Assists | Chelsea Gray – 5.1 apg |
Media | |
Television | Spectrum SportsNet ESPN2, NBATV |
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.[1]
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
[edit]WNBA draft
[edit]Round | Pick | Player | Nationality | School/Team/Country |
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1 | 11 | Maria Vadeeva | ![]() | Dynamo Kursk (Russia) |
2 | 23 | Shakayla Thomas | ![]() | Florida State |
3 | 35 | Julia Reisingerová | ![]() | Femeni Sant Adrià (Spain) |
Trades/Roster Changes
[edit]Date | Details | |
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February 1, 2018 | Re-sign G Odyssey Sims[2] | |
February 1, 2018 | Sign G Ana Dabovic and G Karlie Samuelson[3] | |
February 6, 2018 | Re-sign G Alana Beard[4] | |
February 14, 2018 | Sign G Cappie Pondexter[5] | |
February 21, 2018 | Re-sign F Tiffany Jackson[6] |
Roster
[edit]2018 Los Angeles Sparks roster | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Players | Coaches | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Game log
[edit]Preseason
[edit]2018 pre-season game log | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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May: 1–2 (Home: 1–0; Road: 0–2)
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2018 pre-season schedule |
Regular season
[edit]2018 game log Total: 19–15 (Home: 11–6; Road: 8–9) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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May: 3–1 (Home: 1–0; Road: 2–1)
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June : 8–4 (Home: 6–1; Road: 2–3)
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July : 4–6 (Home: 1–5; Road: 3–1)
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August : 4–4 (Home: 3–0; Road: 1–4)
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2018 season schedule |
Playoffs
[edit]2018 playoff game log Total: 1–1 (Home: 1–0; Road: 0–1) | ||||||||||||||||||
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WNBA Second Round: 0–1 (Home: 0–0; Road: 0–1)
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2018 playoff schedule |
Standings
[edit]# | Western Conference | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Conf. |
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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
[edit]First round: Single elimination (Aug. 21) | Second round: Single elimination (Aug. 23) | Semifinals: Best-of-five (Aug. 26 – Sept. 4) | 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
[edit]Legend | |||||||
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GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game | RPG | Rebounds per game |
APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game | BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game |
FG% | Field-goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field-goal percentage | FT% | Free-throw percentage | TO | Turnovers per game |
PF | Fouls per game | Team leader | League leader |
Regular season
[edit]Player | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | PPG | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG |
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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
[edit]Recipient | Award | Date awarded | Ref. |
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Chelsea Gray | WNBA Western Conference Player of the Week | May 29, 2018 | [7] |
Candice Parker | July 15, 2018 | [8] | |
Nneka Ogwumike | WNBA All-Star Selection | July 17, 2018 | [9] |
Chelsea Gray | |||
Candice Parker | WNBA All-Star Captain | ||
Candice Parker | WNBA Western Conference Player of the Week | August 6, 2018 | [10] |
Alana Beard | WNBA Defensive Player of the Year Award | August 31, 2018 | [11] |
References
[edit]- ^ "2018 Los Angeles Sparks Schedule". sparks.wnba.com. WNBA. Retrieved April 19, 2018.
- ^ "Odyssey Sims re-signs with Los Angeles Sparks". sparks.wnba.com. WNBA. February 1, 2018. Retrieved April 19, 2018.
- ^ "Los Angeles Sparks Sign Ana Dabovic and Karlie Samuelson". sparks.wnba.com. WNBA. February 1, 2018. Retrieved April 19, 2018.
- ^ "Sparks re-sign 2017 WNBA Defensive Player of the year, Alana Beard". sparks.wnba.com. WNBA. February 6, 2018. Retrieved April 19, 2018.
- ^ "Sparks sign top WNBA free agent Cappie Pondexter". sparks.wnba.com. WNBA. February 1, 2018. Retrieved April 19, 2018.
- ^ "Tiffany Jackson re-signs with Sparks". sparks.wnba.com. WNBA. February 21, 2018. Retrieved April 19, 2018.
- ^ "Alyssa Thomas, Chelsea Gray Named WNBA Players Of The Week". wnba.com. WNBA. May 29, 2018. Retrieved May 30, 2018.
- ^ "Atlanta's Breland, Los Angeles' Parker Named WNBA Players Of The Week". wnba.com. WNBA. July 16, 2018. Retrieved July 16, 2018.
- ^ "2018 WNBA All-Stars Announced; Elena Delle Donne, Candace Parker To Serve As Player-Captains". wnba.com. WNBA. July 17, 2018. Retrieved July 18, 2018.
- ^ "Atlanta's Hayes, Los Angeles' Parker Named WNBA Players of the Week". wnba.com. WNBA. August 6, 2018. Retrieved August 6, 2018.
- ^ "Sparks' Alana Beard Named 2018 Defensive Player Of The Year - WNBA.com - Official Site of the WNBA". WNBA.com - Official Site of the WNBA. Retrieved August 31, 2018.