2018 Atlanta Dream season

The 2018 WNBA season was the 11th season for the Atlanta Dream of the Women's National Basketball Association. The team began its season on May 20, 2018, against the Dallas Wings.^[1]

2018 Atlanta Dream season
Coach	Nicki Collen
Arena	McCamish Pavilion
Attendance	4,194 per game
Results
Record	23–11 (.676)
Place	1st (Eastern)
Playoff finish	2nd seed; Lost in Semifinals to Washington (2–3)
Team Leaders
Points	Tiffany Hayes – 17.2
Rebounds	Jessica Breland – 7.9
Assists	Renee Montgomery – 3.7
Media
Television	Fox Sports South (FS-S), Fox Sports Southeast (FSSE)
← 2017 season 2019 season →

The Dream started the season slowly, going 2–2 in May with both losses coming to Dallas. The team continued to not be able to build momentum in June, posting a 5–6 record. The team started well in the month, going on a three game win streak, but couldn't continue that run, winning just 2 of the final 7 games in the month. However, the Dream found another gear in July. The Dream went on an 8 game winning streak and head coach Nicki Collen was awarded the Coach of the Month. The team finished the month 9–2 and in prime playoff position. The team continued its run in August, going 6–1 with their only loss on the road against Phoenix. Collen was again voted coach of the month. However, on August 9, the team lost their star Angel McCoughtry for the season with torn ligaments in her left knee. The team finished a franchise–best 23–11 which entered them into the 2018 WNBA Playoffs as the second seed.

As the second seed, Atlanta earned a double bye into the semifinal round. There, Atlanta faced off against the Washington Mystics. The Mystics were the third seed, finishing one game behind Atlanta in the regular season. The series was a close one, with the Mystics star Elena Delle Donne getting injured in game 3. However, the Dream were not able to capitalize and eventually lost the series 2 games to 3.

Transactions

WNBA draft

See also: 2018 WNBA draft

Round	Pick	Player	Nationality	School/team/country
2	15	Monique Billings	United States	UCLA
2	16	Kristy Wallace	Australia	Baylor
3	27	Mackenzie Engram	United States	Georgia

Trades and Roster Changes

Date	Transaction
January 1, 2018	Cored Angel McCoughtry
	Exercised 4th-Year Team Option on Bria Holmes and Imani McGee-Stafford
	Extended a Qualifying Offer to Damiris Dantas
January 16, 2018	Bria Holmes to miss season due to Pregnancy[2]
February 1, 2018	Signed Renee Montgomery[3]
	Signed Maggie Lucas to a training-camp contract
February 2, 2018	Signed Jessica Breland[4]
February 8, 2018	Signed Angel McCoughtry[5]
February 13, 2018	Signed Adaora Elonu to a training-camp contract
February 14, 2018	Signed Damiris Dantas[6]
March 9, 2018	Signed Blake Dietrick to a training-camp contract
April 3, 2018	Signed Elizabeth Williams to a Multi-Year Extension[7]
April 5, 2018	Signed Yelena Leuchanka to a training-camp contract[8]
April 12, 2018	Traded Bria Holmes to the Connecticut Sun in exchange for a Second Round Pick in 2018 and 2019[9]
April 13, 2018	Signed Alexa Hart and Rosemarie Julien to training-camp contracts
	Waived Yelena Leuchanka[10]
April 18, 2018	Signed Mackenzie Engram to a rookie-scale contract
April 19, 2018	Signed Monique Billings to a rookie-scale contract
May 4, 2018	Waived Alexa Hart[11]
May 13, 2018	Waived Rosemarie Julien[12]
May 16, 2018	Waived Mackenzie Engram
May 17, 2018	Waived Adaora Elonu[13]
June 30, 2018	Waived Maggie Lucas[14]
July 4, 2018	Signed Alexis Prince to a 7-day contract[15]
July 9, 2018	Traded Layshia Clarendon and 2nd Round Pick in the 2019 WNBA draft to the Connecticut Sun in exchange for Alex Bentley[16]
July 11, 2018	Signed Alexis Prince to a 2nd 7-day contract
July 18, 2018	Signed Alexis Prince to a 3rd 7-day contract
July 25, 2018	Signed Alexis Prince
August 7, 2018	Signed Tiffany Hayes to a Multi-Year Extension[17]
August 10, 2018	Signed Adaora Elonu to a 7-day contract[18]
August 17, 2018	Signed Adaora Elonu

Roster

2018 Atlanta Dream roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Height Weight DOB From Yrs G 20 Bentley, Alex 5' 7" (1.7m) 152 lb (69kg) 1990-10-27 Penn State 5 F 25 Billings, Monique 6' 4" (1.93m) 176 lb (80kg) 1996-05-02 UCLA R F 51 Breland, Jessica 6' 3" (1.91m) 164 lb (74kg) 1988-02-23 North Carolina 6 C 12 Dantas, Damiris 6' 3" (1.91m) 208 lb (94kg) 1992-11-17 Brazil 4 G 11 Dietrick, Blake 5' 10" (1.78m) 157 lb (71kg) 1993-07-19 Princeton 1 F 2 Elonu, Adaora 6' 1" (1.85m) 165 lb (75kg) 1990-04-28 Texas A&M R G 15 Hayes, Tiffany 5' 10" (1.78m) 155 lb (70kg) 1989-09-20 Connecticut 6 G/F 35 McCoughtry, Angel  6' 1" (1.85m) 160 lb (73kg) 1986-07-10 Louisville 8 C 34 McGee-Stafford, Imani 6' 7" (2.01m) 200 lb (91kg) 1994-10-11 Texas 2 G 21 Montgomery, Renee 5' 7" (1.7m) 141 lb (64kg) 1986-12-02 Connecticut 9 G 3 Prince, Alexis 6' 2" (1.88m) 178 lb (81kg) 1994-02-05 Baylor 1 G 7 Sykes, Brittney 5' 9" (1.75m) 155 lb (70kg) 1994-02-07 Syracuse 1 F/C 1 Williams, Elizabeth 6' 3" (1.91m) 199 lb (90kg) 1993-06-23 Duke 3	Head coach Nicki Collen (Marquette) Assistant coaches Mike Peterson (Bushnell) Darius Taylor (Michigan) Athletic trainer Jessica Cohen (Vanderbilt) Strength and conditioning coach Ashley Alexander (New Orleans) Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured

Depth

Pos.	Starter	Bench
C	Elizabeth Williams	Imani McGee-Stafford
PF	Jessica Breland	Damiris Dantas Monique Billings Adaora Elonu
SF	Angel McCoughtry	Brittney Sykes Alexis Prince
SG	Tiffany Hayes	Alex Bentley
PG	Renee Montgomery	Blake Dietrick

Schedule

Preseason

2018 Schedule: Preseason
Total: 1–1 (Home: 0–0; Road: 1–1) Game Date Opponent Score High points High rebounds High assists Location/Attendance Record 1 May 6 @ Chicago W 78–61 Hayes (16) Williams (7) Montgomery (7) Wintrust Arena 1–0 2 May 11 vs. Connecticut L 58–74 Clarendon (13) Williams (6) Montgomery (3) Webster Bank Arena 1,610 1–1
2018 pre-season schedule

Regular season

2018 Regular Season Total: 23–11 (Home: 13–4; Road: 10–7)
May: 2–2 (Home: 1–1; Road: 1–1) Game Date Opponent Score High points High rebounds High assists Location/Attendance Record 1 May 20 @ Dallas L 78–101 3 Tied (14) Sykes (7) Hayes (6) College Park Center 5,907 0–1 2 May 23 @ Chicago W 81–63 Hayes (22) Breland (10) Williams (6) Wintrust Arena 6,147 1–1 3 May 26 Dallas L 80–87 McCoughtry (19) Breland (10) Hayes (4) McCamish Pavilion 4,749 1–2 4 May 29 Minnesota W 76–74 Hayes (20) Tied (7) Tied (5) McCamish Pavilion 3,785 2–2
June: 5–6 (Home: 3–1; Road: 2–5) Game Date Opponent Score High points High rebounds High assists Location/Attendance Record 5 June 3 Phoenix L 71–78 McCoughtry (21) Tied (10) Clarendon (3) McCamish Pavilion 3,795 2–3 6 June 5 Connecticut W 82–77 Hayes (22) Breland (9) Tied (4) McCamish Pavilion 2,830 3–3 7 June 8 @ Las Vegas W 87–83 Hayes (24) Tied (9) McCoughtry (6) Mandalay Bay Events Center 5,913 4–3 8 June 10 @ Seattle W 67–64 Hayes (23) Breland (14) 4 Tied (2) KeyArena 6,345 5–3 9 June 12 @ Los Angeles L 64–72 Hayes (16) Breland (6) Hayes (3) Staples Center 9,215 5–4 10 June 14 Indiana W 72–67 Hayes (23) Breland (13) McCoughtry (4) McCamish Pavilion 6,561 6–4 11 June 16 @ Indiana L 64–96 McCoughtry (19) McCoughtry (8) Clarendon (4) Bankers Life Fieldhouse 6,234 6–5 12 June 19 @ New York L 72–79 McCoughtry (39) McCoughtry (14) McCoughtry (4) Westchester County Center 1,627 6–6 13 June 22 Connecticut W 75–70 McCoughtry (25) Williams (10) Sykes (4) McCamish Pavilion 4,047 7–6 14 June 27 @ Chicago L 80–93 Montgomery (19) Breland (7) Montgomery (5) Wintrust Arena 8,521 7–7 15 June 29 @ Minnesota L 74–85 McGee-Stafford (15) Breland (10) Montgomery (6) Target Center 9,209 7–8
July: 9–2 (Home: 5–2; Road: 4–0) Game Date Opponent Score High points High rebounds High assists Location/Attendance Record 16 July 1 @ Indiana W 87–83 Sykes (20) Tied (6) Sykes (7) Bankers Life Fieldhouse 5,277 8–8 17 July 6 Seattle L 86–95 McCoughtry (26) Sykes (6) Dantas (5) McCamish Pavilion 3,935 8–9 18 July 8 Phoenix W 76–70 Hayes (18) Breland (12) McCoughtry (4) McCamish Pavilion 3,952 9–9 19 July 11 @ Washington W 106–89 McCoughtry (26) Breland (10) Breland (7) Capital One Arena 11,354 10–9 20 July 13 Indiana W 98–74 Hayes (16) Breland (8) McCoughtry (7) McCamish Pavilion 3,807 11–9 21 July 15 Washington W 80–77 Sykes (17) Breland (10) Bentley (4) McCamish Pavilion 3,880 12–9 22 July 17 @ Connecticut W 86–83 McCoughtry (24) Breland (11) Tied (4) Mohegan Sun Arena 5,555 13–9 23 July 19 New York W 82–68 Montgomery (24) Tied (12) McCoughtry (6) McCamish Pavilion 3,074 14–9 24 July 22 Seattle W 87–74 Williams (17) Tied (8) Hayes (5) McCamish Pavilion 4,916 15–9 25 July 24 @ Los Angeles W 81–87 McCoughtry (19) McCoughtry (7) Montgomery (6) Staples Center 9,324 16–9 26 July 31 Washington L 71–86 Hayes (18) Williams (9) Sykes (5) McCamish Pavilion 3,648 16–10
August: 6–1 (Home: 3–0; Road: 3–1) Game Date Opponent Score High points High rebounds High assists Location/Attendance Record 27 August 3 Chicago W 89–74 McCoughtry (21) Breland (9) Bentley (7) McCamish Pavilion 5,120 17–10 28 August 5 @ Minnesota W 86–66 Hayes (28) Tied (8) Sykes (6) Target Center 9,333 18–10 29 August 7 Las Vegas W 109–100 Tied (22) Breland (11) Bentley (8) McCamish Pavilion 4,033 19–10 30 August 9 Los Angeles W 79–73 Breland (19) Breland (9) Bentley (8) McCamish Pavilion 4,235 20–10 31 August 11 Dallas W 92–82 Montgomery (24) Williams (9) 3 Tied (5) McCamish Pavilion 4,937 21–10 32 August 12 @ New York W 86–77 Montgomery (30) Tied (7) Sykes (4) Westchester County Center 2,362 22–10 33 August 17 @ Phoenix L 95–104 Bentley (24) Williams (8) Bentley (6) Talking Stick Resort Arena 11,177 22–11 34 August 19 @ Las Vegas W 93–78 Williams (20) Williams (7) Montgomery (9) Mandalay Bay Events Center 5,737 23–11
2018 season schedule

Playoffs

2016 Playoffs: Total: 2–3 (Home: 1–2; Road: 1–1)
WNBA Semifinals vs. Washington (Lost Series 2-3) Game Date Opponent Score High points High rebounds High assists Location/Attendance Record 1 August 26 Washington L 84–87 Bentley (19) Williams (14) 5 Tied (2) McCamish Pavilion 5,086 0–1 2 August 28 Washington W 78–75 Bentley (22) Breland (14) Hayes (6) McCamish Pavilion 3,813 1–1 3 August 31 Washington W 81–76 Hayes (23) Breland (11) Montgomery (3) Charles Smith Center 3,867 2–1 4 September 2 Washington 76–97 Tied (12) Breland (8) Montgomery (10) Charles Smith Center 3,722 2–2 5 September 4 Washington 81–86 Bentley (16) Breland (12) Hayes (4) McCamish Pavilion 4,435 2–3
2018 playoff schedule

Standings

#	Eastern Conference v t e	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Conf.
1	Atlanta Dream (2)	23	11	.676	–	13–4	10–7	12–4
2	Washington Mystics (3)	22	12	.647	1	12–5	10–7	12–4
3	Connecticut Sun (4)	21	13	.618	2	13–4	8–9	9–7
4	e – Chicago Sky	13	21	.382	10	7–10	6–11	6–10
5	e – New York Liberty	7	27	.206	16	4–13	3–14	6–10
6	e – Indiana Fever	6	28	.176	17	2–15	4–13	3–13

Notes

(#) – Conference Standing, Playoff Seeds shown to the right of team name

x – Clinched Playoff Berth

e – Eliminated from playoffs

Playoffs

Main article: 2018 WNBA 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
Tiffany Hayes	31	29	28.9	.441	.321	.817	3.6	2.7	1.2	0.2	17.2
Angel McCoughtry	29	28	27.6	.420	.276	.836	6.0	3.0	1.3	0.6	16.5
Renee Montgomery	34	34	27.5	.389	.371	.881	1.7	3.7	1.3	0.1	10.3
Brittney Sykes	29	7	20.7	.411	.268	.663	3.5	2.3	0.3	0.6	9.7
Elizabeth Williams	33	32	26.8	.548	.000	.563	5.8	1.4	0.8	1.8	9.1
Alex Bentley	16	0	20.8	.376	.310	.529	1.5	3.4	0.9	0.1	8.7
Jessica Breland	34	34	26.4	.428	.000	.750	7.9	2.0	1.1	1.9	8.3
Damiris Dantas	19	0	13.4	.433	.238	.722	2.4	0.8	0.4	0.0	5.4
Alexis Prince	2	0	3.0	.600	1.000	.000	1.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	3.5
Monique Billings	32	0	11.0	.441	.000	.750	2.8	0.4	0.4	0.0	3.3
Imani McGee-Stafford	29	2	10.5	.453	.000	.467	3.4	0.6	0.4	0.4	2.9
Blake Dietrick	26	0	7.2	.343	.391	.667	0.5	0.4	0.3	0.0	1.4
Adaora Elonu	1	0	1.0	.000	.000	.000	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0

Playoffs

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Tiffany Hayes	5	5	33.6	44.4	37.5	80.0	6.2	3.4	1.4	0.2	16.4
Alex Bentley	5	0	24.0	44.4	32.0	75.0	2.0	2.0	0.6	0.0	15.6
Brittney Sykes	5	5	27.0	47.3	41.2	50.0	3.6	1.6	0.8	0.2	12.6
Elizabeth Williams	5	5	31.4	51.1	0.0	54.5	8.8	1.0	0.6	1.2	10.8
Jessica Breland	5	5	31.0	37.0	0.0	83.3	10.8	2.8	0.8	2.8	9.0
Renee Montgomery	5	5	31.6	29.3	28.6	84.6	2.0	4.2	0.2	0.2	8.6
Monique Billings	5	0	12.8	47.4	0.0	57.9	2.6	0.8	0.0	0.6	5.8
Imani McGee-Stafford	4	0	5.8	33.3	0.0	50.0	2.0	0.0	0.0	0.3	1.3
Adaora Elonu	1	0	4.0	0.0	0.0	50.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Blake Dietrick	3	0	5.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.3	0.7	0.0	0.0	0.0

Awards and honors

Recipient	Award	Date awarded	Ref.
Tiffany Hayes	Eastern Conference Player of the Week	June 11, 2018	[19]
		July 23, 2018	[20]
		August 6, 2018	[21]
	Eastern Conference Player of the Month - July	August 1, 2018	[22]
Angel McCoughtry	Eastern Conference Player of the Week	June 24, 2018	[23]
	WNBA All-Star Selection	July 17, 2018	[24]
Jessica Breland	Eastern Conference Player of the Week	July 15, 2018	[25]
Nicki Collen	WNBA Coach of the Month - July	August 2, 2018	[26]
	WNBA Coach of the Month - August	August 20, 2018	[27]
	WNBA Coach of the Year	August 28, 2018	[28]
Chris Sienko	WNBA Basketball Executive of the Year	August 28, 2018	[29]