2018 Phoenix Mercury season
The 2018 WNBA season was the 22nd season for the Phoenix Mercury franchise of the WNBA. The season tipped off on May 14.[1]
| 2018 Phoenix Mercury season | |
|---|---|
| Coach | Sandy Brondello |
| Arena | Talking Stick Resort Arena |
| Attendance | 9,950 per game |
| Results | |
| Record | 20–14 (.588) |
| Place | 2nd (Western) |
| Playoff finish | 5th seed; lost in Semifinals to Seattle |
| Team Leaders | |
| Points | Diana Taurasi – 20.7 ppg |
| Rebounds | Brittney Griner – 7.7 rpg |
| Assists | Diana Taurasi – 5.3 apg |
| Media | |
| Television | Fox Sports Arizona (FS-A) |
The Mercury started the season slowly, going 2–3 in May. They won the first two games, but lost the next three. All five games were against eventual playoff teams. However, the Mercury caught fire in June, posting an 11–2 record which included an 8 game winning streak. The June high turned into a July low. The team was 2–7 in July with their only wins coming against Connecticut, and league-worst Indiana. The Mercury managed to turn it around and end the season on a high, going 5–2 in August. Their regular season ended on a three game winning streak, with all games coming against playoff teams. The Mercury finished the season 20–14, with the 5th seed in the 2018 WNBA Playoffs.
As the fifth seed, the Mercury had to play an opening round game against the Dallas Wings at home. The Mercury won by 18 points, 101–83. This win saw them advance to the second round where they played the fourth seeded Connecticut Sun in Connecticut. Again, the Mercury won, this time by 10 points. With the win, the Mercury advanced to the Semifinals to face the first seeded Seattle Storm. The home team won each game in the five game series. However, the Mercury did not have home court advantage, due to being the lower seed, and lost the series 2–3 despite nearly completing a dramatic comeback after being down two games to none.
Transactions
WNBA draft
| Round | Pick | Player | Nationality | School/Team/Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 12 | Marie Gülich |  Germany |
Oregon State |
| 2 | 20 | Tyler Scaife |  United States |
Rutgers |
| 2 | 21 | Raisa Musina |  Russia |
UMMC Ekaterinburg (Russia) |
| 3 | 26 | Imani Wright | United States |
Florida State |
Trades/Roster Changes
| Date | Details | |
|---|---|---|
| February 1, 2018 | Sign F Sancho Lyttle[2] | |
| February 2, 2018 | Acquired 21st pick in the 2018 WNBA draft in exchange for C Cayla George.[3] | |
| February 2, 2018 | Acquired 26th pick in the 2018 WNBA Draft and a 3nd round pick in the 2019 WNBA draft in exchange for C Kelsey Bone.[4] | |
| February 2, 2018 | Re-signed G Yvonne Turner and G Emma Cannon[5] | |
| February 5, 2018 | Re-signed F Camille Little[6] | |
| February 13, 2018 | Re-signed G/F DeWanna Bonner[7] | |
| March 6, 2018 | Acquired G Briann January in exchange for the 8th pick in the 2018 WNBA Draft.[8] | |
| March 6, 2018 | Acquired the 12th pick in the 2018 WNBA draft in exchange for G Danielle Robinson and a second round pick in the 2019 WNBA Draft.[9] | |
Roster
| 2018 Phoenix Mercury roster | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Players | Coaches | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Game log
Pre-season
| 2018 pre-season game log | |
|---|---|
| 2018 pre-season schedule | |
Regular season
| 2018 game log Total: 20–14 (Home: 9–8; Road: 11–6) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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May: 2–3 (Home: 1–2; Road: 1–1)
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June
: 11–2 (Home: 3–1; Road: 8–1) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
July
: 2–7 (Home: 1–4; Road: 1–3)
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August
: 5–2 (Home: 4–1; Road: 1–1)
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| 2018 season schedule | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Playoffs
| 2018 playoff game log Total: 4–3 (Home: 3–0; Road: 1–3) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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First Round: 1–0 (Home: 1–0; Road: 0–0)
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Second Round: 1–0 (Home: 0–0; Road: 1–0)
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WNBA Semifinals: 2–3 (Home: 2–0; Road: 0–3)
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| 2018 playoff schedule | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 |
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 | 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
| 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% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Diana Taurasi | 33 | 33 | 30.0 | .446 | .383 | .925 | 3.5 | 5.3 | 0.9 | 0.2 | 20.7 |
| Brittney Griner | 34 | 34 | 32.6 | .544 | .250 | .800 | 7.7 | 2.1 | 0.5 | 2.6 | 20.5 |
| DeWanna Bonner | 34 | 34 | 32.9 | .452 | .313 | .867 | 7.2 | 3.2 | 1.3 | 0.4 | 17.3 |
| Sancho Lyttle | 18 | 18 | 23.3 | .540 | .000 | .875 | 5.3 | 1.4 | 0.9 | 0.4 | 7.9 |
| Briann January | 33 | 33 | 27.1 | .423 | .470 | .806 | 2.1 | 3.3 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 7.0 |
| Leilani Mitchell | 31 | 0 | 14.9 | .351 | .341 | .857 | 1.4 | 2.3 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 4.4 |
| Yvonne Turner | 32 | 3 | 13.3 | .376 | .324 | .682 | 1.8 | 1.3 | 0.7 | 0.1 | 4.1 |
| Stephanie Talbot | 31 | 8 | 14.6 | .464 | .386 | .905 | 1.9 | 1.3 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 3.7 |
| Camille Little | 33 | 7 | 16.2 | .330 | .258 | .774 | 1.8 | 1.2 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 3.0 |
| Angel Robinson | 24 | 0 | 9.9 | .452 | .000 | .850 | 3.0 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 2.3 |
| Devereaux Peters | 5 | 0 | 7.6 | .333 | .000 | .000 | 1.6 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.6 |
| Marie Gülich | 23 | 0 | 5.0 | .483 | .000 | .750 | 1.0 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 1.5 |
Awards and honors
| Recipient | Award | Date awarded | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brittney Griner | WNBA Western Conference Player of the Week | June 11, 2018 | [10] |
| Diana Taurasi | WNBA Cares Community Assist Award – May | June 20, 2018 | [11] |
| WNBA Western Conference Player of the Month – June | July 3, 2018 | [12] | |
| Sandy Brondello | WNBA Coach of the Month Award – June | July 2, 2018 | [13] |
| Diana Taurasi | WNBA All-Star Selection | July 17, 2018 | [14] |
| DeWanna Bonner | |||
| Brittney Griner | |||
| DeWanna Bonner | WNBA Western Conference Player of the Week | August 20, 2018 | [15] |
| Diana Taurasi | WNBA Western Conference Player of the Month – August | August 20, 2018 | [16] |
References
- "2018 Phoenix Mercury Schedule". mercury.wnba.com. Women's National Basketball Association. Retrieved April 20, 2018.
- "Mercury Signs All-Star Forward Sancho Lyttle". mercury.wnba.com. WNBA. February 1, 2018. Retrieved April 20, 2018.
- "Mercury Acquires Second-Round Pick". mercury.wnba.com. WNBA. February 2, 2018. Retrieved April 20, 2018.
- "Mercury Acquires Two Draft Picks in Sign-And-Trade Deal". mercury.wnba.com. WNBA. February 2, 2018. Retrieved April 20, 2018.
- "Turner, Cannon Re-Sign with Mercury". mercury.wnba.com. WNBA. February 2, 2018. Retrieved April 20, 2018.
- "Mercury Re-Signs Camille Little". mercury.wnba.com. WNBA. February 5, 2018. Retrieved April 20, 2018.
- "Mercury Re-Signs Two-Time WNBA Champion DeWanna Bonner". mercury.wnba.com. WNBA. February 13, 2018. Retrieved April 20, 2018.
- "Mercury Acquires Former Sun Devil Great Briann January". mercury.wnba.com. WNBA. March 6, 2018. Retrieved April 20, 2018.
- "Mercury Acquires 2018 First-Round Pick from Lynx". mercury.wnba.com. WNBA. March 6, 2018. Retrieved April 20, 2018.
- "Phoenix's Griner, Atlanta's Hayes Named WNBA Players Of The Week". wnba.com. WNBA. June 11, 2018. Retrieved June 11, 2018.
- "Phoenix's Diana Taurasi Receives May WNBA Cares Community Assist Award Presented By State Farm". wnba.com. WNBA. June 20, 2018. Retrieved June 21, 2018.
- "Washington's Delle Donne, Phoenix's Taurasi Named WNBA Players of the Month". wnba.com. WNBA. July 3, 2018. Retrieved July 3, 2018.
- "Phoenix's Sandy Brondello Named WNBA Coach of the Month". wnba.com. WNBA. July 2, 2018. Retrieved July 2, 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.
- "Jones, Bonner Named Players Of The Week". wnba.com. WNBA. August 20, 2018. Retrieved August 20, 2018.
- "Elena Delle Donne And Diana Taurasi Named Players Of Month For August". wnba.com. WNBA. August 20, 2018. Retrieved August 20, 2018.
External links
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