2017 Los Angeles Sparks season

The 2017 WNBA season is the 21st season for the Los Angeles Sparks of the Women's National Basketball Association. The Sparks are the defending WNBA champions. The season tipped off on May 13. The Sparks finished 26–8 with the number 2 seed in the league and advanced all the way to the Finals for the second season in a row, setting up a rematch with the Minnesota Lynx, but would lose this time in 5 games, failing to win back-to-back championships.

2017 Los Angeles Sparks season
Coach	Brian Agler
Arena	Staples Center
Attendance	10,687 per game
Results
Record	26–8 (.765)
Place	2nd (Western)
Playoff finish	Lost WNBA Finals 3–2 (Minnesota)
Team Leaders
Points	Nneka Ogwumike 18.8 ppg
Rebounds	Candace Parker 8.4 rpg
Assists	Chelsea Gray 4.4 apg
Media
Television	Spectrum SportsNet ESPN2, NBATV
← 2016 season 2018 season →

Transactions

• Alana Beard resigned with Los Angeles Sparks [1]
• Sandrine Gruda signed with the team on July 28, 2017.[1]

WNBA Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Nationality	School/Team/Country
1	11	Sydney Wiese	United States	Oregon State
3	35	Saicha Grant-Allen	Canada	Dayton

Roster

Los Angeles Sparks roster

Players

Coaches

Pos. # Nat. Name Height Weight DOB From Yrs G/F 0 Beard, Alana 5' 11" (1.8m) 160 lb (73kg) 05-14-1982 Duke 11 G 1 Sims, Odyssey 5' 8" (1.73m) 160 lb (73kg) 07-13-1992 Baylor 3 G 2 Williams, Riquna 5' 7" (1.7m) 154 lb (70kg) 05-28-1990 Miami (FL) 4 F 3 Parker, Candace 6' 4" (1.93m) 175 lb (79kg) 04-19-1986 Tennessee 9 C 7 Gruda, Sandrine 6' 4" (1.93m) 185 lb (84kg) 06-25-1987 France 5 G 12 Gray, Chelsea 5' 11" (1.8m) 170 lb (77kg) 10-08-1992 Duke 2 F 17 Carson, Essence 6' 0" (1.83m) 163 lb (74kg) 07-28-1986 Rutgers 9 G 24 Wiese, Sydney 6' 0" (1.83m) – 06-16-1995 Oregon State R F/C 26 Diarra, Maimouna 6' 6" (1.98m) – 01-30-1991 Senegal R F/C 30 Ogwumike, Nneka 6' 2" (1.88m) 174 lb (79kg) 07-02-1990 Stanford 5 F 33 Jackson, Tiffany 6' 3" (1.91m) 185 lb (84kg) 04-26-1985 Texas 8 C 42 Lavender, Jantel 6' 4" (1.93m) 185 lb (84kg) 11-12-1988 Ohio State 6 East: ATL • CHI • CON • IND • NY • WAS | West: DAL • LV • LA • MIN • PHO • SEA

Head coach Brian Agler (Wittenberg) Assistant coaches Tonya Edwards (Tennessee) Bobbie Kelsey (Stanford) Athletic trainer Courtney Watson (California) Strength and conditioning coach Kelly Dormandy (Springfield College) Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured WNBA roster page

Game log

Preseason

2017 pre-season game log
May: 1–2 (Home: 1–0; Road: 0–2) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 1 May 2 New York L 65-81 Samuelson (9) Wiese (6) Tied (2) Mohegan Sun Arena 2,782 0-1 2 May 3 Connecticut L 62-79 Sims (12) Warley-Talbert (11) Sims (5) Mohegan Sun Arena 2,809 0-2 3 May 6 San Antonio W 73-59 Ruef (18) Ruef (7) Gray (5) Pasadena College 1,000 1-2
2017 pre-season schedule

Regular season

2017 game log Total: 26–8 (Home: 16–1; Road: 10–7)
May: 3–2 (Home: 2–0; Road: 1–2) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 1 May 13 Seattle W 78-68 Ogwumike (23) Jackson (8) Gray (8) Staples Center 10,603 1-0 2 May 19 Washington W 99-89 Ogwumike (23) Parker (8) Parker (5) Staples Center 12,127 2-0 3 May 24 Indiana L 90-93 Ogwumike (24) Parker (12) Parker (6) Bankers Life Fieldhouse 5,875 2-1 4 May 27 Atlanta L 73-75 Gray (25) Ogwumike (7) Parker (6) McCamish Pavilion 4,253 2-2 5 May 30 New York W 90-75 Ogwumike (22) Parker (11) Gray (6) Madison Square Garden 8,108 3-2
June : 8–1 (Home: 4–0; Road: 4–1) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 6 June 6 Chicago W 79-70 Ogwumike (20) Ogwumike (11) Gray (5) Staples Center 8,523 4-2 7 June 9 Dallas L 90-96 Ogwumike (28) Ogwumike (13) Sims (5) College Park Center 3,169 4-3 8 June 10 Phoenix W 89-87 Gray (24) Tied (5) Gray (8) Talking Stick Resort Arena 10,223 5-3 9 June 13 Dallas W 97-87 Gray (24) Parker (7) Tied (5) Staples Center 7,233 6-3 10 June 15 San Antonio W 80-75 Parker (20) Ogwumike (9) Parker (4) Staples Center 9,104 7-3 11 June 18 Phoenix W 90-57 Ogwumike (18) Parker (8) Parker (6) Staples Center 9,916 8-3 12 June 24 Indiana W 84-73 Ogwumike (21) Parker (13) Parker (7) Bankers Life Fieldhouse 9,241 9-3 13 June 27 Connecticut W 87-79 Ogwumike (21) Ogwumike (9) Gray (5) Mohegan Sun Arena 6,899 10-3 14 June 30 Atlanta W 85-76 Parker (21) Parker (13) Parker (5) McCamish Pavilion 4,119 11-3
July : 6–3 (Home: 5–1; Road: 1–2) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 15 July 2 Washington W 76-69 Tied 17 Parker (11) Parker (4) Staples Center 9,185 12-3 16 July 6 Minnesota L 77-88 Ogwumike (27) Ogwumike (14) Ogwumike (5) Xcel Energy Center 9,821 12-4 17 July 8 Seattle L 69-81 Ogwumike (21) Ogwumike (9) Gray (6) KeyArena 7,104 1125 18 July 13 Connecticut W 87-77 Ogwumike (29) Ogwumike (11) Parker (6) Staples Center 9,918 13-5 19 July 17 Indiana W 80-62 Gray (16) Ogwumike (12) Ogwumike (6) Staples Center 11,386 14-5 20 July 20 Chicago L 80-82 Ogwumike (24) Ogwumike (10) Gray (6) Staples Center 16,166 14-6 21 July 25 Seattle W 68-60 Parker (17) Tied (10) Gray (5) Staples Center 10,012 15-6 22 July 28 San Antonio W 85-73 Sims (22) Parker (17) Parker (11) AT&T Center 5,777 16-6 23 July 30 Dallas W 95-74 Parker (23) Parker (10) Tied (8) Staples Center 11,053 17-6
August : 4–2 (Home: 1–0; Road: 3–2) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 24 August 4 New York W 87-84 Parker (24) Gray (7) Parker (6) Staples Center 11,617 18-6 25 August 6 Dallas L 79-85 Tied (21) Parker (9) Gray (4) College Park Center 3,903 18-7 26 August 11 Minnesota W 70-64 Gray (23) Parker (10) Sims (5) Xcel Energy Center 11,533 19-7 27 August 13 New York L 69-83 Sims (18) Parker (7) Sims (5) Madison Square Garden 10,083 19-8 28 August 16 Washington W 95-62 Parker (21) Parker (7) Sims (7) Capital One Arena 7,279 20-8 29 August 18 Chicago W 115-106 Ogwumike (32) Parker (12) Tied (10) Allstate Arena 6,826 21-8 30 August 22 San Antonio W 75-55 Ogwumike (22) Ogwumike (14) Parker (6) Staples Center 12,433 22-8 31 August 24 Phoenix W 82-67 Sims (28) Ogwumike (10) Sims (8) Talking Stick Resort Arena 9,890 23-8 32 August 27 Minnesota W 78-67 Parker (24) Parker (10) Gray (5) Staples Center 19,282 24-8
September : 2–0 (Home: 2–0; Road: 0–0) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 33 September 1 Atlanta W 81-56 Parker (18) Ogwumike (6) Sims (7) Staples Center 12,163 25-8 34 September 3 Connecticut W 81-70 Ogwumike (21) Parker (14) Gray (7) Staples Center 12,236 26-8
2017 season schedule

Playoffs

2017 playoff game log Total: 5–3 (Home: 3–1; Road: 2–2)
WNBA Semifinals: 3–0 (Home: 2–0; Road: 1–0) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Series 1 September 12 Phoenix W 79–66 Ogwumike (19) Ogwumike (9) Gray (6) Staples Center 7,963 1–0 2 September 14 Phoenix W 86–72 Parker (24) Parker (13) Tied (6) Walter Pyramid 4,023 2–0 3 September 17 Phoenix W 89–87 Sims (22) Ogwumike (12) Parker (11) Talking Stick Resort Arena 12,043 3–0
WNBA Finals: 2–3 (Home: 1–1; Road: 1–2) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Series 1 September 24 Minnesota W 85–84 Gray (27) Parker (11) Gray (6) Williams Arena 11,823 1–0 2 September 26 Minnesota L 70–68 Parker (17) Ogwumike (13) Parker (6) Williams Arena 11,434 1–1 3 September 29 Minnesota W 75–64 Tied (16) Ogwumike (10) Gray (7) Staples Center 13,500 2–1 4 October 1 Minnesota L 69–80 Ogwumike (17) Tied (8) Gray (9) Staples Center 13,500 2–2 5 October 4 Minnesota L 76-85 Parker (19) Parker (15) Gray (8) Williams Arena 14,632 2-3
2017 playoff schedule

Standings

#	Western Conference	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Conf.
1	Minnesota Lynx - (1)	27	7	.794	–	15–2	12–5	13–3
2	Los Angeles Sparks - (2)	26	8	.765	1	16–1	10–7	12–4
3	Phoenix Mercury - (5)	18	16	.529	9	9–8	9–8	7–9
4	Dallas Wings - (7)	16	18	.471	11	10–7	6–11	7–9
5	Seattle Storm - (8)	15	19	.441	12	10–7	5–12	8–8
6	San Antonio Stars - e	8	26	.235	19	6–11	2–15	1–15

Playoffs

	First round: Single elimination (Sept. 6)				Second round: Single elimination (Sept. 10)				Semifinals: Best-of-five (Sept. 12 – Sept. 17)				WNBA Finals: Best-of-five (Sept. 24 – Oct. 4)
									2 Los Angeles Sparks	3
									5 Phoenix Mercury	0
					4 Connecticut Sun	83
					5 Phoenix Mercury	88
	5 Phoenix Mercury	79
	8 Seattle Storm	69
													1 Minnesota Lynx	3
													2 Los Angeles Sparks	2
	6 Washington Mystics	86
	7 Dallas Wings	76
					3 New York Liberty	68
					6 Washington Mystics	82
									1 Minnesota Lynx	3
									6 Washington Mystics	0

Note: Teams re-seeded after second round and semi-finals.

Semifinals

Team	1	2	3
1 Minnesota Lynx	101	93	81
6 Washington Mystics	81	83	70

Team	1	2	3
2 Los Angeles Sparks	79	86	89
5 Phoenix Mercury	66	72	87

WNBA Finals

Team	1	2	3	4	5
1 Minnesota Lynx	84	70	64	80	85
2 Los Angeles Sparks	85	68	75	69	76

Awards and honors

Recipient	Award	Date awarded	Ref.
Candice Parker	Player of the Week	June 19, 2017	[2]
Brian Agler	Coach of the Month - June	July 5, 2017	[3]
Candice Parker	Player of the Week	July 31, 2017	[4]
Candice Parker	Player of the Week	August 28, 2017	[5]
Candice Parker	Player of the Month	August 2017	[6]
Alana Beard	WNBA Defensive Player of the Year Award	September 12, 2017	[7]

References

1. "Transactions".
2. "Connecticut's Jones and Los Angeles' Parker Named WNBA Players of the Week". wnba.com. WNBA. June 19, 2017. Retrieved August 22, 2017.
3. "Los Angeles' Brian Agler Named WNBA Coach of the Month". wnba.com. WNBA. July 5, 2017. Retrieved August 22, 2017.
4. "Candace Parker, Tina Charles Named WNBA Players of the Week". wnba.com. WNBA. July 31, 2017. Retrieved August 22, 2017.
5. "New York's Charles, Los Angeles' Parker Named WNBA Players of the Week". wnba.com. WNBA. August 28, 2017. Retrieved August 29, 2017.
6. "New York's Charles, Los Angeles' Parker Named WNBA Players of the Month". wnba.com. WNBA. September 6, 2017. Retrieved September 12, 2017.
7. "Los Angeles' Alana Beard Named 2017 WNBA Defensive Player of the Year". wnba.com. WNBA. September 12, 2017. Retrieved October 5, 2017.

External links

• Official website