Nolan takes over for Shock

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. – The Detroit Shock always make things hard on themselves.

Luckily for Bill Laimbeer’s team, they have the talent to pull it off.

The defending WNBA champs got 24 points from Deanna Nolan and evened the Eastern Conference finals at 1-1 with a 77-63 win over the Indiana Fever on Sunday.

The Shock are 6-0 when facing elimination in the past two postseasons, and will look to make it 7-0 in the series finale at home tonight.

“We love playing with our backs against the wall,” said Nolan, who had 15 points in the second quarter. “That’s when our energy gets going.”

Detroit won its second-round series in three games last season, then won the last two games of the finals to beat Sacramento. This year, they lost Game 1 in New York by 20 before winning the next two games at home.

Detroit had five players in double figures, including Swin Cash, who had 12 points and nine rebounds after being benched for a poor effort in Game 1.

Anna DeForge led Indiana, scoring 13 points against her former team.