| 2018Minnesota Lynx season | |
|---|---|
| Coach | Cheryl Reeve |
| Arena | Target Center |
| Attendance | 10,036 per game |
| Results | |
| Record | 18–16 (.529) |
| Place | 4th(Western) |
| Playoff finish | 7th seed, lost in the First Round toLos Angeles 68–75 |
| Team Leaders | |
| Points | Maya Moore – 18.0 ppg |
| Rebounds | Sylvia Fowles – 11.9 rpg |
| Assists | Danielle Robinson – 3.3 apg |
| Media | |
| Television | Fox Sports North,ESPN,NBATV |
The2018 Minnesota Lynx season was the 20th season for theMinnesota Lynx of theWomen's National Basketball Association, and the 9th season under head coachCheryl Reeve.
The Lynx finished last season with a record of 27–7, finishing first in the Western Conference (and the league as a whole) and qualifying for the playoffs, before ultimately beating Los Angeles in theWNBA Finals to win their league-tying best fourth championship.
The Lynx returned to the home arena,Target Center, for the 2018 season, following a year playing at theXcel Energy Center andWilliams Arena due to renovations.
The season started out shakily for the Lynx, going 2–3 in May. The Lynx lost their season opener in a re-match of last years finals to Los Angeles. They also lost on the road to the eventual #2 and #3 playoff seeds, Atlanta and Washington. However, the Lynx turned it around in June, posting a 7–3 record. This included a 6-game winning streak, which included wins over 4 eventual playoff teams. Momentum slowed in July, with the Lynx going 6–4. Three of their four losses in July came versus teams that ended up missing the playoffs. The Lynx finished the season on a cold note, going 3–6 in August. A two-game winning streak separated two three game losing streaks. However, the team won their last game of the season to secure the 7th seed in theplayoffs.
The Lynx first-round playoff matchup saw them play in Los Angeles versus theLos Angeles Sparks. This match-up was a re-match of the past 3 WNBA Finals. The Lynx lost the game 68–75.
| Round | Pick | Player | Nationality | School/Team/Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 17 | Park Ji-su |  South Korea | Cheongju KB Stars(South Korea) |
| 2 | 24 | Kahlia Lawrence |  United States | Mercer |
| 3 | 36 | Carlie Wagner | United States | Minnesota |
The Lynx traded the drafts rights to Park Si-Ju and Kahlia Lawrence to theLas Vegas Aces in exchange for the draft rights to Jill Barta and the rights to the Aces's 2nd Round Pick in the 2019 Draft.
| Date | Trade | |
|---|---|---|
| February 1, 2018 | Re-Signed FRebekkah Brunson[1] | |
| February 7, 2018 | Traded FNatasha Howard to theSeattle Storm for a 2018 2nd Round Pick and the ability to swap 2019 1st Round Picks[2] | |
| February 7, 2018 | Re-Signed FCecilia Zandalasini and Signed FLynetta Kizer and FEndy Miyem[3] | |
| February 28, 2018 | Signed FBreanna Richardson[4] | |
| March 6, 2018 | Acquired GDanielle Robinson via trade from thePhoenix Mercury and a 2nd Round Pick in 2019 in exchange for the 12th Pick in the 2018 WNBA Draft[5] | |
| March 13, 2018 | Signed GTanisha Wright[6] | |
| April 17, 2018 | Signed 3rd Round Picks F Jill Barta and G Carlie Wagner, F G'mrice Davis, F Camille Zimmerman, and C Vionise Pierre-Louis[7] | |
| May 4, 2018 | Waived F G'mrice Davis[8] | |
| May 5, 2018 | Signed FJillian Alleyne[9] | |
| May 9, 2018 | Waived F Jill Barta, F Breanna Richardson, and C Vionise Pierre-Louis[10] | |
| May 15, 2018 | Waived F Jillian Alleyne and G Carlie Wagner[11] | |
| May 17, 2018 | Waived F Endy Miyem[12] | |
| June 6, 2018 | Re-signed F Endy Miyem[13] | |
| June 30, 2018 | Waived F Lynetta Kizer | |
| July 5, 2018 | Signed F Lynetta Kizer to a 7-Day Contract | |
| July 12, 2018 | Signed FErlana Larkins to a 7-Day Contract[14] | |
| July 19, 2018 | Signed F Erlana Larkins to a 2nd 7-Day Contract | |
| July 30, 2018 | Signed F Erlana Larkins to Rest-Of-Season Contract | |
| August 13, 2018 | Waived F Endy Miyem | |
| August 14, 2018 | Signed GSydney Colson to Rest-Of-Season Contract | |
| Player | Date | Former Team |
|---|---|---|
| Lynetta Kizer | February 7, 2018 | Connecticut Sun[15] |
| Danielle Robinson | March 6, 2018 | Phoenix Mercury |
| Tanisha Wright | March 13, 2018 | New York Liberty |
| Endy Miyem | June 6, 2018 | PF Schio (Italy) |
| Player | Date | New Team |
|---|---|---|
| Plenette Pierson | August 21, 2017 | Retired[16] |
| Renee Montgomery | February 1, 2018 | Atlanta Dream[17] |
| Jia Perkins | February 1, 2018 | Retired[18] |
| Natasha Howard | February 7, 2018 | Seattle Storm[19] |
| 2018Minnesota Lynx roster | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Players | Coaches | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 2018 pre-season game log Total: 1–1 (Home: 1–0; Road: 0–1) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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May: 1–1 (Home: 1–0; Road: 0–1)
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| 2018 season schedule | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2018 playoff game log Total: 0–0 (Home: 0–0; Road: 0–0) | ||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
WNBA First Round: 0–1 (Home: 0–0; Road: 0–1)
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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 |
Notes
| First round Single elimination (Aug. 21) | Second round Single elimination (Aug. 23) | Semifinals Best-of-5 (Aug. 26 – Sept. 4) | WNBA Finals Best-of-5 (Sept. 7 – Sept. 12) | |||||||||||||||
| 1 | Seattle Storm | 3 | ||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Connecticut Sun | 86 | 5 | Phoenix Mercury | 2 | |||||||||||||
| 5 | Phoenix Mercury | 101 | 5 | Phoenix Mercury | 96 | 1 | Seattle Storm | 3 | ||||||||||
| 8 | Dallas Wings | 83 | 3 | Washington Mystics | 0 | |||||||||||||
| 2 | Atlanta Dream | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Washington Mystics | 96 | 3 | Washington Mystics | 3 | |||||||||||||
| 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 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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% | PPG | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maya Moore | 34 | 34 | 31.8 | .423 | .365 | .833 | 18.0 | 5.4 | 2.6 | 1.7 | 0.4 |
| Sylvia Fowles | 34 | 34 | 32.0 | .619 | .000 | .757 | 17.7 | 11.9 | 2.2 | 1.4 | 1.2 |
| Seimone Augustus | 33 | 33 | 26.2 | .467 | .318 | .706 | 10.8 | 1.8 | 2.6 | 0.4 | 0.2 |
| Rebekkah Brunson | 25 | 25 | 27.6 | .405 | .375 | .673 | 7.2 | 6.8 | 2.4 | 0.8 | 0.5 |
| Danielle Robinson | 28 | 2 | 18.6 | .445 | .158 | .854 | 6.5 | 1.8 | 3.3 | 0.9 | 0.0 |
| Lindsay Whalen | 32 | 29 | 19.3 | .363 | .357 | .881 | 5.7 | 2.6 | 3.1 | 0.7 | 0.1 |
| Cecilia Zandalasini | 29 | 6 | 16.5 | .409 | .383 | .840 | 5.7 | 1.9 | 1.1 | 0.3 | 0.0 |
| Tanisha Wright | 33 | 4 | 17.8 | .383 | .396 | .741 | 4.3 | 1.6 | 2.0 | 0.5 | 0.1 |
| Sydney Colson | 2 | 0 | 8.5 | .429 | .000 | .500 | 3.5 | 1.0 | 2.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 |
| Alexis Jones | 26 | 0 | 8.8 | .352 | .320 | .750 | 3.3 | 0.9 | 0.7 | 0.1 | 0.1 |
| Temi Fagbenle | 30 | 2 | 9.4 | .506 | .000 | .696 | 3.1 | 2.0 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 0.3 |
| Erlana Larkins | 13 | 0 | 12.9 | .444 | .000 | 1.00 | 2.1 | 2.7 | 1.3 | 0.7 | 0.2 |
| Recipient | Award/Milestone | Date Awarded |
|---|---|---|
| Maya Moore | WNBA Western Conference Player of the Week | June 24, 2018[20] |
| July 2, 2018[21] | ||
| Rebekkah Brunson | WNBA's All-Time Leading Rebounder (3,318) | July 5, 2018[22] |
| Cheryl Reeve | WNBA's Winningest Female Head Coach (206) | July 5, 2018[23] |
| Maya Moore | WNBA Cares Community Assist Award - June | July 12, 2018[24] |
| Seimone Augustus | WNBA All-Star Selection | July 17, 2018[25] |
| Maya Moore | ||
| Sylvia Fowles | ||
| Maya Moore | Best WNBA Player - ESPY's | July 19, 2018[26] |
| Rebekkah Brunson | WNBA All-Star Selection Replacement | July 25, 2018[27] |
| Maya Moore | WNBA Western Conference Player of the Week | August 13, 2018[28] |
| Sylvia Fowles | WNBA Peak Performer – Rebounds | August 19, 2018[29] |
With the Lynx entering their 20th season in the league, the organization began ranking their Top 20 Players of All-Time.[30]
