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 20th.[1]

2018 Los Angeles Sparks season
CoachBrian Agler
ArenaStaples Center
Attendance10,642 per game
Results
Record19–15 (.559)
Place3rd (Western)
Playoff finish6th seed, Lost in Second Round to Washington 64–96
Team Leaders
PointsCandace Parker – 17.9 ppg
ReboundsCandace Parker – 8.2 rpg
AssistsChelsea Gray – 5.1 apg
Media
TelevisionSpectrum SportsNet
ESPN2, NBATV

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
See also: 2018 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[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
Los Angeles Sparks roster
PlayersCoaches
Pos.#Nat.NameHeightWeightDOBFromYrs
G/F 0 Beard, Alana 5' 11" (1.8m) 160 lb (73kg) 05-14-1982 Duke 12
G/F 17 Carson, Essence 6' 0" (1.83m) 163 lb (74kg) 07-28-1986 Rutgers 10
G 12 Gray, Chelsea 5' 11" (1.8m) 170 lb (77kg) 10-08-1992 Duke 3
C 42 Lavender, Jantel 6' 4" (1.93m) 185 lb (84kg) 11-12-1988 Ohio State 7
F 30 Ogwumike, Nneka 6' 2" (1.88m) 174 lb (79kg) 07-02-1990 Stanford 6
F/C 3 Parker, Candace 6' 4" (1.93m) 175 lb (79kg) 04-19-1986 Tennessee 10
G 44 Samuelson, Karlie 6' 0" (1.83m) – 05-10-1995 Stanford R
G 1 Sims, Odyssey 5' 8" (1.73m) 160 lb (73kg) 07-13-1992 Baylor 4
C 10 Vadeeva, Maria 6' 4" (1.93m) 190 lb (86kg) 06-16-1988 Russia R
G 24 Wiese, Sydney 6' 0" (1.83m) – 06-16-1995 Oregon State 1
G 2 Williams, Riquna 5' 7" (1.7m) 165 lb (75kg) 05-28-1990 Miami (FL) 5



East: ATL • CHI • CON • IND • NY • WAS | West: DAL • LV • LA • MIN • PHO • SEA
Head coach
Brian Agler (Wittenberg)
Assistant coaches
Tonya Edwards (Tennessee)
Bobbie Kelsey (Stanford)
Athletic trainer
Courtney Watson (California)
Strength and conditioning coach
Kelly Dormandy (Springfield College)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured

WNBA roster page

Game Log

Preseason
2018 pre-season game log
May: 1–2 (Home: 1–0; Road: 0–2)
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)
June : 8–4 (Home: 6–1; Road: 2–3)
July : 4–6 (Home: 1–5; Road: 3–1)
August : 4–4 (Home: 3–0; Road: 1–4)
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
Attendance		Series
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
Attendance		Series
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 W L PCT GB Home Road Conf.
1 Seattle Storm (1)268.765–13–413–411–5
2 Phoenix Mercury (5)2014.58869–811–68–8
3 Los Angeles Sparks (6)1915.559711–68–99–7
4 Minnesota Lynx (7)1816.52989–89–89–7
5 Dallas Wings (8)1519.4411110–75–127–9
6 e –Las Vegas Aces1420.412128–96–114–12
 
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 		3
 
 
5
Phoenix Mercury 		2
 
 
 
 
 
4
Connecticut Sun		86
 
 
 
5
Phoenix Mercury 		96
 
5
Phoenix Mercury		101
 
 
 
8
Dallas Wings		83
 
1
Seattle Storm 		3
 
 
 
3
Washington Mystics		 0
 
6
Los Angeles Sparks		75
 
 
 
7
Minnesota Lynx		 68
 
3
Washington Mystics		96
 
 
6
Los Angeles Sparks 		64
 
 
 
 
 
2
Atlanta Dream		 2
 
 
3
Washington Mystics		 3
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Note: Teams re-seeded after second round and semi-finals.

Semifinals
Team12345
1
Seattle Storm		9191668494
5
Phoenix Mercury		8787868684
Team12345
2
Atlanta Dream		8478817681
3
Washington Mystics		8775769786
WNBA Finals
Team123
1
Seattle Storm		897598
3
Washington Mystics		767382

Statistics
Legend
  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
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 Ref.
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
  1. "2018 Los Angeles Sparks Schedule". sparks.wnba.com. WNBA. Retrieved April 19, 2018.
  2. "Odyssey Sims re-signs with Los Angeles Sparks". sparks.wnba.com. WNBA. February 1, 2018. Retrieved April 19, 2018.
  3. "Los Angeles Sparks Sign Ana Dabovic and Karlie Samuelson". sparks.wnba.com. WNBA. February 1, 2018. Retrieved April 19, 2018.
  4. "Sparks re-sign 2017 WNBA Defensive Player of the year, Alana Beard". sparks.wnba.com. WNBA. February 6, 2018. Retrieved April 19, 2018.
  5. "Sparks sign top WNBA free agent Cappie Pondexter". sparks.wnba.com. WNBA. February 1, 2018. Retrieved April 19, 2018.
  6. "Tiffany Jackson re-signs with Sparks". sparks.wnba.com. WNBA. February 21, 2018. Retrieved April 19, 2018.
  7. "Alyssa Thomas, Chelsea Gray Named WNBA Players Of The Week". wnba.com. WNBA. May 29, 2018. Retrieved May 30, 2018.
  8. "Atlanta's Breland, Los Angeles' Parker Named WNBA Players Of The Week". wnba.com. WNBA. July 16, 2018. Retrieved July 16, 2018.
  9. "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.
  10. "Atlanta's Hayes, Los Angeles' Parker Named WNBA Players of the Week". wnba.com. WNBA. August 6, 2018. Retrieved August 6, 2018.
  11. "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 2018-08-31.
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