2018 Washington Mystics season

The 2018 WNBA season is the 21st for the Washington Mystics of the Women's National Basketball Association which began on May 20, 2018. The Mystics qualified for the WNBA Playoffs and reached the WNBA Finals for the first time in franchise history.

The Mystics started the season strong with a 5–1 record in May. Their only loss came to eventual league champions Seattle. However, the team couldn't carry this momentum into June, where they went 5–5. The Mystics lost 4 of their first 5 games in June, but turned it around in the second half of the month, winning 4 of their last 5. The up and down season continued into July, where they again went 5–5. The Mystics finished the season just like the started it, strongly. With a 7–1 August record, the team secured a first round playoff bye, and the third overall seed. The Mystics won seven straight games before dropping their season finale against Minnesota. Their final record of 22–12 tied a franchise best, previously set in 2010.

The Mystics hosted a second round playoff game against the Los Angeles Sparks and won 96–64. This win saw them advance to the semifinals where they met the Atlanta Dream. In the best of five series, the Mystics won the final two games to advance to the 2018 WNBA Finals against the Storm. An injury to star Elena Delle Donne in the semifinals hampered her in the finals, and the Mystics were swept 0–3.

Preseason

 * - style="background:#bbffbb;"
 * 1
 * May 6
 * vs. Minnesota
 * W 90–85
 * Ruffin-Pratt (17)
 * Peters (6)
 * Tied (3)
 * Wells Fargo Arena 4,203
 * 1–0
 * - style="background:#bbffbb"
 * 2
 * May 12
 * vs. Indiana
 * W 91–56
 * Tied (15)
 * Hawkins (6)
 * Currie (3)
 * Acierno Arena (University of Delaware) 3,323
 * 2–0

Regular season

 * - style="background:#bbffbb"
 * 1
 * May 20
 * Indiana
 * W 82–75
 * Toliver (16)
 * Delle Donne (5)
 * Delle Donne (7)
 * Capital One Arena 7,400
 * 1–0
 * - style="background:#bbffbb"
 * 2
 * May 22
 * Las Vegas
 * W 75–70
 * Delle Donne (23)
 * Delle Donne (11)
 * Cloud (5)
 * Capital One Arena 4,509
 * 2–0
 * - style="background:#bbffbb"
 * 3
 * May 24
 * @ Indiana
 * W 93–84
 * Delle Donne (26)
 * Delle Donne (10)
 * Tied (4)
 * Bankers Life Fieldhouse 4,415
 * 3–0
 * - style="background:#bbffbb"
 * 4
 * May 27
 * Minnesota
 * W 90–78
 * Toliver (19)
 * Hines–Allen (13)
 * Cloud (8)
 * Capital One Arena 5,723
 * 4–0
 * - style="background:#fcc"
 * 5
 * May 29
 * @ Seattle
 * L 77–81
 * Toliver (20)
 * Hines–Allen (11)
 * Ruffin-Pratt (5)
 * KeyArena 4,453
 * 4–1
 * - style="background:#bbffbb"
 * 6
 * May 30
 * @ Phoenix
 * W 103–95
 * Toliver (30)
 * Hawkins (12)
 * Atkins (4)
 * Talking Stick Resort Arena 8,188
 * 5–1


 * - style="background:#fcc"
 * 7
 * June 1
 * @ Las Vegas
 * L 73–74
 * Currie (24)
 * Currie (8)
 * Toliver (4)
 * Mandalay Bay Events Center 5,575
 * 5–2
 * - style="background:#fcc"
 * 8
 * June 3
 * Connecticut
 * L 64–88
 * Atkins (14)
 * Tied (4)
 * Tied (3)
 * Capital One Arena 5,176
 * 5–3
 * - style="background:#fcc"
 * 9
 * June 7
 * Minnesota
 * L 80–88
 * Cloud (17)
 * Cloud (5)
 * Cloud (9)
 * Capital One Arena 8,587
 * 5–4
 * - style="background:#bbffbb"
 * 10
 * June 13
 * @ Connecticut
 * W 95–91
 * Delle Donne (36)
 * Delle Donne (5)
 * Toliver (4)
 * Mohegan Sun Arena
 * 6–4
 * - style="background:#fcc"
 * 11
 * June 15
 * Los Angeles
 * L 86–97
 * Delle Donne (18)
 * Sanders (11)
 * Toliver (8)
 * Capital One Arena 5,289
 * 6–5
 * - style="background:#bbffbb"
 * 12
 * June 19
 * Chicago
 * W 88–60
 * Toliver (19)
 * Delle Donne (7)
 * Toliver (8)
 * Capital One Arena 4,206
 * 7–5
 * - style="background:#bbffbb"
 * 13
 * June 22
 * @ Chicago
 * W 93–77
 * Delle Donne (30)
 * Sanders (11)
 * Delle Donne (6)
 * Wintrust Arena 5,831
 * 8–5
 * - style="background:#bbffbb"
 * 14
 * June 26
 * Connecticut
 * W 92–80
 * Delle Donne (25)
 * Sanders (8)
 * Toliver (8)
 * Capital One Arena 4,139
 * 9–5
 * - style="background:#bbffbb"
 * 15
 * June 28
 * New York
 * W 80–77
 * Delle Donne (22)
 * Sanders (6)
 * Tied (3)
 * Capital One Arena 4,473
 * 10–5
 * - style="background:#fcc"
 * 16
 * June 30
 * Phoenix
 * L 74–84
 * Delle Donne (27)
 * Delle Donne (13)
 * Cloud (4)
 * Capital One Arena 6,218
 * 10–6


 * - style="background:#bbffbb"
 * 17
 * July 5
 * New York
 * W 86–67
 * Delle Donne (21)
 * Cloud (6)
 * Cloud (10)
 * Capital One Arena 4,674
 * 11–6
 * - style="background:#bbffbb"
 * 18
 * July 7
 * @ Los Angeles
 * W 83–74
 * Toliver (20)
 * Sanders (8)
 * Tied (3)
 * Staples Center 10,163
 * 12–6
 * - style="background:#fcc"
 * 19
 * July 8
 * @ Seattle
 * L 91–97
 * Delle Donne (29)
 * Delle Donne (7)
 * Toliver (6)
 * KeyArena 8,724
 * 12–7
 * - style="background:#fcc"
 * 20
 * July 11
 * Atlanta
 * L 89–106
 * Cloud (17)
 * Delle Donne (9)
 * Toliver (5)
 * Capital One Arena 11,354
 * 12–8
 * - style="background:#bbffbb"
 * 21
 * July 13
 * Chicago
 * W 88–72
 * Tied (25)
 * Sanders (8)
 * Cloud (7)
 * Capital One Arena 5,858
 * 13–8
 * - style="background:#fcc"
 * 22
 * July 15
 * @ Atlanta
 * L 77–80
 * Delle Donne (23)
 * Delle Donne (11)
 * Toliver (6)
 * McCamish Pavilion 3,880
 * 13–9
 * - style="background:#fcc"
 * 23
 * July 19
 * @ Dallas
 * L 81–90
 * Sanders (25)
 * Delle Donne (13)
 * Toliver (9)
 * College Park Center 4,411
 * 13–10
 * - style="background:#bbffbb"
 * 24
 * July 21
 * @ New York
 * W 95–78
 * Delle Donne (30)
 * Delle Donne (10)
 * Toliver (8)
 * Westchester County Center 2,005
 * 14–10
 * - style="background:#fcc"
 * 25
 * July 24
 * @ Connecticut
 * L 68–94
 * Delle Donne (21)
 * Sanders (6)
 * Tied (4)
 * Mohegan Sun Arena 5,125
 * 14–11
 * -style="background:#bbffbb"
 * 26
 * July 31
 * @ Atlanta
 * W 86–71
 * Delle Donne (28)
 * Delle Donne (16)
 * Toliver (4)
 * McCamish Pavilion 3,648
 * 15–11


 * - style="background:#bbffbb"
 * 27
 * August 3
 * Las Vegas
 * W via forfeit
 * Capital One Arena 0
 * 16–11
 * - style="background:#bbffbb"
 * 28
 * August 5
 * @ Dallas
 * W 76–74
 * Toliver (16)
 * Powers (6)
 * Toliver (5)
 * College Park Center 5,623
 * 17–11
 * - style="background:#bbffbb"
 * 29
 * August 7
 * @ Phoenix
 * W 103–98
 * Delle Donne (30)
 * Sanders (5)
 * Cloud (6)
 * Talking Stick Resort Arena 7,769
 * 18–11
 * - style="background:#bbffbb"
 * 30
 * August 9
 * Seattle
 * W 100–77
 * Delle Donne (30)
 * Sanders (12)
 * Cloud (8)
 * Capital One Arena 6,808
 * 19–11
 * - style="background:#bbffbb"
 * 31
 * August 12
 * Dallas
 * W 93–80
 * Atkins (26)
 * Sanders (9)
 * Toliver (7)
 * Capital One Arena 6,362
 * 20–11
 * - style="background:#bbffbb"
 * 32
 * August 15
 * @ Indiana
 * W 76–62
 * Delle Donne (25)
 * Sanders (13)
 * Cloud (7)
 * Bankers Life Fieldhouse 7,636
 * 21–11
 * - style="background:#bbffbb"
 * 33
 * August 17
 * Los Angeles
 * W 69–67
 * Delle Donne (16)
 * Tied (10)
 * Tied (5)
 * Capital One Arena 7,400
 * 22–11
 * - style="background:#fcc"
 * 34
 * August 19
 * @ Minnesota
 * L 83–88
 * Toliver (17)
 * Tied (5)
 * Toliver (4)
 * Target Center 13,013
 * 22–12
 * Toliver (4)
 * Target Center 13,013
 * 22–12

Playoffs

 * - style="background:#bbffbb"
 * 1
 * August 23
 * Los Angeles
 * W 96–64
 * Donne (19)
 * Donne (12)
 * Toliver (9)
 * Charles Smith Center 3,548
 * 1–0


 * - style="background:#bbffbb"
 * 1
 * August 26
 * @ Atlanta
 * W 87–84
 * Delle Donne (32)
 * Delle Donne (13)
 * Toliver (6)
 * McCamish Pavilion 5,086
 * 1–0
 * - style="background:#fcc"
 * 2
 * August 28
 * @ Atlanta
 * L 75–78
 * Delle Donne (27)
 * Delle Donne (14)
 * Tied (6)
 * McCamish Pavilion 3,813
 * 1–1
 * - style="background:#fcc"
 * 3
 * August 31
 * Atlanta
 * L 76–81
 * Powers (18)
 * Hawkins (9)
 * Toliver (6)
 * Charles Smith Center 3,867
 * 1–2
 * - style="background:#bbffbb"
 * 4
 * September 2
 * Atlanta
 * W 97–76
 * 4 Tied (12)
 * Delle Donne (10)
 * Toliver (7)
 * Charles Smith Center 3,722
 * 2–2
 * - style="background:#bbffbb"
 * 5
 * September 4
 * @ Atlanta
 * W 86–81
 * Atkins (20)
 * Delle Donne (11)
 * Cloud (5)
 * McCamish Pavilion 4,435
 * 3–2


 * - style="background:#fcc"
 * 1
 * September 7
 * @ Seattle
 * L 76–89
 * Atkins (23)
 * Delle Donne, Hawkins (7)
 * Cloud (5)
 * KeyArena 11,486
 * 0–1
 * - style="background:#fcc"
 * 2
 * September 9
 * @ Seattle
 * L 73–75
 * Delle Donne (17)
 * Sanders (5)
 * Toliver (3)
 * KeyArena 14,212
 * 0–2
 * - style="background:#fcc"
 * 3
 * September 12
 * Seattle
 * L 82–98
 * Delle Donne (23)
 * Delle Donne (5)
 * Toliver (5)
 * EagleBank Arena 9,164
 * 0–3