2018 Phoenix Mercury season | |
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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 2018 WNBA season was the 22nd season for the Phoenix Mercury franchise of the WNBA. The season tipped off on May 14. [1]
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.
Round | Pick | Player | Nationality | School/Team/Country |
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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 |
Date | Details | |
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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] |
2018 Phoenix Mercury roster | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Players | Coaches | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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2018 pre-season game log | |
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2018 pre-season schedule |
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 |
# | 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 |
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.
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 |
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 |
Recipient | Award | Date awarded | Ref. |
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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] |
The Phoenix Mercury are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona, playing in the Western Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). One of eight original franchises, it was founded before the league's inaugural 1997 season began.
Diana Lorena Taurasi is an American professional basketball player for the Phoenix Mercury of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), and is considered to be one of the greatest players in WNBA history. She was drafted by Phoenix first overall in the 2004 WNBA draft. Taurasi has won the WNBA Rookie of the Year Award (2004), three WNBA championships, a historic five Olympic gold medals, one WNBA Most Valuable Player Award (2009), two WNBA Finals MVP Awards, five scoring titles, and three FIBA World Cups. She has also been selected to ten WNBA All-Star teams and fourteen All-WNBA teams. In 2011, she was voted by fans as one of the WNBA's Top 15 Players of All Time, and was named by the league to its 20th and 25th anniversary teams, respectively the WNBA Top 20@20 in 2016 and The W25 in 2021. Also in 2021, she was selected by fans as the league's greatest player of all time. On June 18, 2017, Taurasi became the WNBA all-time leading scorer and on June 27, 2021, became the first player to surpass 9,000 points. On August 3, 2023, Taurasi became the first player to score 10,000 career points. Her penchant for scoring in crucial situations has earned her the nickname "White Mamba", coined by Kobe Bryant. Taurasi is one of 11 women to win an Olympic gold medal, an NCAA Championship, a FIBA World Cup, and a WNBA Championship.
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