2018 WNBA Finals
The 2018 WNBA Finals was the best-of-five championship series for the 2018 season of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). It featured the top-seeded Seattle Storm and the three-seeded Washington Mystics. The series began on September 7, 2018 and ended on September 12, 2018. After winning the first two games at home, the Storm went on the road and completed the 3–0 series sweep. It was the franchise's first title in eight years and third overall.
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| Dates | September 7 – September 12 | |||||||||
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| MVP |  (Seattle Storm) | |||||||||
| Eastern Finals | Washington Mystics defeated Atlanta Dream, 3–2 (Note: the semifinal rounds as of 2016 were not divided by conference) | |||||||||
| Western Finals | Seattle Storm defeated Phoenix Mercury, 3–2 | |||||||||
Road to the Finals
Standings
| # | Western Conference | 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 |
| # | Eastern Conference | 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) | 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
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 Seattle Storm | 91 | 91 | 66 | 84 | 94 |
5 Phoenix Mercury | 87 | 87 | 86 | 86 | 84 |
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2 Atlanta Dream | 84 | 78 | 81 | 76 | 81 |
3 Washington Mystics | 87 | 75 | 76 | 97 | 86 |
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
1 Seattle Storm | 89 | 75 | 98 |
3 Washington Mystics | 76 | 73 | 82 |
Summary
The Mystics' regular home of Capital One Arena was not available during the 2018 postseason due to renovations. The team had played its previous home playoff games at Charles Smith Center on the campus of George Washington University in Washington's Foggy Bottom neighborhood, but that venue would also be unavailable for the Finals due to scheduling issues. The team then moved its home Finals games to EagleBank Arena at George Mason University near Fairfax, Virginia.[1]
Game 1
In Game 1 of the WNBA Finals, Jewell Loyd came up big, leading the Storm in points and rebounds. Loyd scored 23 points on 9-of-12 shooting and regular season MVP Breanna Stewart added 20 points in a 13 point Storm win. The Storm went on a 16–4 run during the second quarter and never looked back. Seattle lead by as many as 27 in the third quarter.[2]
September 7 9:00 PM ET |
| Washington Mystics 76, Seattle Storm 89 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 13–24, 19–24, 21–29, 23–12 | ||
| Pts: Atkins (23) Rebs: Delle Donne, Hawkins (7) Asts: Cloud (5) |
Pts: Loyd (23) Rebs: Clark, Howard, Loyd (5) Asts: Bird (7) | |
Game 2
Game 2 of the finals was a back and forth affair. In the first quarter, the Storm started quickly and held a 9 point lead. However, the Mystics came on strong in the second quarter and took a 4 point lead into halftime. The Storm cut the lead to 3 at the end of the third quarter and eventually prevailed in the final period. Seattle was now one win short of its third WNBA title. Since the WNBA Finals went to a best-of-five format in 2005, no team has gone down 0–2 and forced a game five.[3]
September 9 3:30 PM ET |
| Washington Mystics 73, Seattle Storm 75 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 16–25, 24–11, 21–22, 12–17 | ||
| Pts: Delle Donne (17) Rebs: Sanders (5) Asts: Toliver (3) |
Pts: Stewart (19) Rebs: Howard (11) Asts: Bird (4) | |
Game 3
In Game 3, Seattle dominated the first half, particularly in the second quarter. By halftime, the Storm held a 17 point lead. Washington showed life in the third quarter, pulling to within five points, but Seattle quickly responded with an 8–0 run to reclaim control. From there, the Storm put the finishing touches on their third title as Finals MVP Breanna Stewart finished with a series-high 30 points while Sue Bird managed 10 assists. Bird is the only player to have been a member of all three of the Storm's championship teams.
September 12 8 PM ET |
| Seattle Storm 98, Washington Mystics 82 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 20–16, 27–14, 21–23, 29–29 | ||
| Pts: Stewart (30) Rebs: Howard (14) Asts: Bird (10) |
Pts: Delle Donne (23) Rebs: Delle Donne (5) Asts: Toliver (5) | |
Team rosters
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References
- "Mystics Advance to the WNBA Finals for the First Time in Franchise History". Washington Mystics. September 4, 2018. Retrieved September 5, 2018.
- Booth, Tim (September 7, 2018). "Jewell Loyd scores 23, Storm beat Mystics 89–76 in Game 1". wnba.com. The Associated Press. Retrieved September 10, 2018.
- Booth, Tim (September 9, 2018). "Stewart, Storm beat Mystics 75–73 for 2–0 series lead". wnba.com. The Associated Press. Retrieved September 10, 2018.