2018 Los Angeles Sparks season explained

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

WNBA draft

See also: 2018 WNBA draft.

Round	Pick	Player	Nationality	School/Team/Country
1	11	Maria Vadeeva		Dynamo Kursk (Russia)
2	23	Shakayla Thomas		Florida State
3	35	Julia Reisingerová		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]

Game log

Preseason

|- style="background:#fcc;"| 1| May 7| @ Connecticut| L 65–68| Thomas (17)| Thomas (8)| Pondexter (3)| Mohegan Sun Arena
| 0–1|- style="background:#fcc;"| 2| May 8| vs. New York| L 75–81| Pondexter (17)| Wiese (9)| Pondexter (5)| Mohegan Sun Arena
1,106| 0–2|- style="background:#bbffbb;"| 3| May 12| China| W 82–61| Gray (17)| Carson (5)| Gray (10)| Hutto-Patterson Gym
1,650| 1–2

Regular season

|- style="background:#bbffbb;"| 1| May 20| @ Minnesota| W 77–76| Sims (21)| Ogwumike (9)| Gray (8)| Target Center
13,032| 1–0|- style="background:#bbffbb;"| 2| May 22| @ Indiana| W 87–70| Ogwumike (25)| Ogwumike (10)| Gray (8)| Bankers Life Fieldhouse
4,742| 2–0|- style="background:#fcc;"| 3| May 24| @ Connecticut| L 94–102| Gray (21)| Tied (4)| Sims (7)| Mohegan Sun Arena
5,571| 2–1|- style="background:#bbffbb;"| 4| May 27| Phoenix| W 80–72| Gray (23)| Ogwumike (8)| Gray (8)| Staples Center
11,201| 3–1|- style="background:#bbffbb;"| 5| June 3| Minnesota| W 77–69| Parker (19)| Parker (10)| Gray (6)| Staples Center
13,500| 4–1|- style="background:#fcc;"| 6| June 7| Seattle| L 63–88| Ogwumike (19)| Ogwumike (6)| Sims (5)| Staples Center
9,204| 4–2|- style="background:#bbffbb;"| 7| June 10| Chicago| W 77–59| Parker (24)| Ogwumike (8)| Sims (5)| Staples Center
8,239| 5–2|- style="background:#bbffbb;"| 8| June 12| Atlanta| W 72–64| Parker (18)| Ogwumike (10)| Gray (7)| Staples Center
9,215| 6–2|- style="background:#bbffbb;"| 9| June 15| @ Washington| W 97–86| Parker (23)| Parker (7)| Parker (11)| Capital One Arena
5,289| 7–2|- style="background:#bbffbb;"| 10| June 17| @ Chicago| W 81–72| Gray (21)| Tied (11)| Gray (6)| Wintrust Arena
5,584| 8–2|- style="background:#bbffbb;"| 11| June 19| Indiana| W 74–55| Parker (15)| Ogwumike (7)| Gray (7)| Staples Center
8,857| 9–2|- style="background:#fcc;"| 12| June 22| @ Dallas| L 72–101| Ogwumike (17)| Parker (6)| Parker (6)| College Park Center
5,672| 9–3|- style="background:#bbffbb;"| 13| June 24| New York| 80–54| Williams (25)| Ogwumike (10)| Gray (11)| Staples Center
9,203| 10–3|- style="background:#bbffbb;"| 14| June 26| Dallas| W 87–83| Parker (29)| Vadeeva (6)| Parker (7)| Staples Center
10,002| 11–3|- style="background:#fcc;"| 15| June 28| @ Seattle| L 72–81| Parker (27)| Parker (11)| Parker (3)| KeyArena
8,447| 11–4|- style="background:#fcc;"| 16| June 29| @ Las Vegas| L 78–94| Gray (22)| Vadeeva (7)| Beard (6)| Mandalay Bay Events Center
5,124| 11–5|- style="background:#bbffbb;"| 17| July 1| Las Vegas| W 87–71| Lavender (17)| Ogwumike (7)| 3 Tied (6)| Staples Center
12,003| 12–5|- style="background:#fcc;"| 18| July 3| Connecticut| L 72–73| Ogwumike (20)| Parker (8)| Parker (4)| Staples Center
6,280| 12–6|- style="background:#fcc;"| 19| July 5| @ Minnesota| L 72–83| Parker (22)| Ogwumike (8)| Gray (8)| Target Center
9,303| 12–7|- style="background:#fcc;"| 20| July 7| Washington| L 74–83| Gray (23)| Ogwumike (13)| Ogwumike (5)| Staples Center
10,163| 12–8|- style="background:#bbffbb;"| 21| July 10| @ Seattle| W 77–75 (OT)| Parker (21)| Tied (9)| Parker (10)| KeyArena
9,686| 13–8|- style="background:#fcc;"| 22| July 12| Dallas| L 77–92| Parker (21)| Parker (7)| Gray (5)| Staples Center
13,502| 13–9|- style="background:#bbffbb;"| 23| July 15| @ Las Vegas| W 99–78| Parker (34)| Parker (11)| Parker (9)| Mandalay Bay Events Center
4,810| 14–9|- style="background:#fcc;"| 24| July 20| Indiana| L 76–78| Parker (24)| Parker (12)| Parker (7)| Staples Center
10,532| 14–10|- style="background:#bbffbb;"| 25| July 22| @ Chicago| W 93–76| Parker (23)| Parker (12)| Gray (9)| Wintrust Arena
6,477| 15–10|- style="background:#fcc;"| 26| July 24| Atlanta| L 71–81| Gray (18)| Parker (9)| Parker (5)| Staples Center
9,324| 15–11|- style="background:#bbffbb;"| 27| August 2| Minnesota| W 79–57| Parker (23)| Parker (10)| Gray (9)| Staples Center
9,542| 16-11|- style="background:#bbffbb;"| 28| August 5| Phoenix| W 78–75| Gray (24)| Parker (14)| Parker (8)| Staples Center
19,076| 17-11|- style="background:#bbffbb;"| 29| August 8| @ New York| W 82–81| Gray (19)| Parker (8)| Parker (6)| Westchester County Center
2,481| 18-11|- style="background:#fcc;"| 30| August 9| @ Atlanta| L 73–79| Parker (20)| Parker (12)| Tied (4)| McCamish Pavilion
4,235| 18-12|- style="background:#fcc;"| 31| August 12| @ Phoenix| L 78–86| Parker (23)| Parker (8)| Sims (6)| Talking Stick Resort Arena
10,618| 18-13|- style="background:#bbffbb;"| 32| August 14| New York| W 74–66| Gray (26)| Parker (10)| Gray (5)| Staples Center
11,067| 19-13|- style="background:#fcc;"| 33| August 17| @ Washington| L 67–69| Williams (14)| Tied (8)| Parker (7)| Capital One Arena
7,400| 19-14|- style="background:#fcc;"| 34| August 19| @ Connecticut| L 86–89| Parker (20)| Parker (10)| Gray (7)| Mohegan Sun Arena
8,040| 19-15

Playoffs

|- style="background:#bbffbb;"| 1| August 21| Minnesota| W 75–68| Gray (26)| Parker (6)| Gray (6)| Staples Center
8,598| 1–0|- style="background:#fcc;"| 1| August 23| @ Washington| L 64–96| Parker (16)| Parker (8)| 3 Tied (3)| Capital One Arena
3,548| 1–1

Playoffs

See main article: 2018 WNBA Playoffs.

Statistics

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]

Notes and References

1. Web site: 2018 Los Angeles Sparks Schedule. sparks.wnba.com. WNBA. April 19, 2018.
2. Web site: Odyssey Sims re-signs with Los Angeles Sparks. sparks.wnba.com. WNBA. February 1, 2018. April 19, 2018.
3. Web site: Los Angeles Sparks Sign Ana Dabovic and Karlie Samuelson. sparks.wnba.com. WNBA. February 1, 2018. April 19, 2018.
4. Web site: Sparks re-sign 2017 WNBA Defensive Player of the year, Alana Beard. sparks.wnba.com. WNBA. February 6, 2018. April 19, 2018.
5. Web site: Sparks sign top WNBA free agent Cappie Pondexter. sparks.wnba.com. WNBA. February 1, 2018. April 19, 2018.
6. Web site: Tiffany Jackson re-signs with Sparks. sparks.wnba.com. WNBA. February 21, 2018. April 19, 2018.
7. Web site: Alyssa Thomas, Chelsea Gray Named WNBA Players Of The Week. WNBA. wnba.com. May 29, 2018. May 30, 2018.
8. Web site: Atlanta's Breland, Los Angeles' Parker Named WNBA Players Of The Week. WNBA. wnba.com. July 16, 2018. July 16, 2018.
9. Web site: 2018 WNBA All-Stars Announced; Elena Delle Donne, Candace Parker To Serve As Player-Captains. wnba.com. WNBA. July 17, 2018. July 18, 2018.
10. Web site: Atlanta's Hayes, Los Angeles' Parker Named WNBA Players of the Week. WNBA. wnba.com. August 6, 2018. August 6, 2018.
11. News: Sparks' Alana Beard Named 2018 Defensive Player Of The Year - WNBA.com - Official Site of the WNBA. WNBA.com - Official Site of the WNBA. 2018-08-31. en-US.