Shock on verge of third title in last five seasons

PHOENIX – The Detroit Shock know from their experience that they can take nothing for granted even though they are one victory from their second WNBA championship in a row.

An 88-83 victory over the Phoenix Mercury on Tuesday night put coach Bill Laimbeer’s team up 2-1 in the best-of-5 series. A win tonight would give the Shock their third title since 2003.

Last year, Detroit was down 2-1 to Sacramento, then won the next two games to take the title.

“We’ve been there, we were there last year,” said Detroit’s Katie Smith, who scored 22 points to lead the Shock in Game 3. “You have nothing to lose. For them, they have nothing to lose. We are the defending champion. Maybe there is more pressure on us to win.”

Laimbeer didn’t want to compare last year’s situation to this year’s team.

“I think we are a different team than we were last year in many ways,” he said. “We know how hard it’s going to be, we know how desperate they are going to be. We are going to plan accordingly.”

The Mercury had a horrific shooting night Tuesday, particularly from 3-point range, where they were 5 for 31.

“All the pressure is on them – being at home, being in an elimination game,” Detroit’s Deanna Nolan said. “We have to come out and do what we did (Tuesday) be patient, knock down shots and play Shock basketball.”

Running and shooting is Phoenix’s game. That’s coach Paul Westhead’s style and it isn’t about to change. The team was averaging 99 points in the playoffs before the third-game loss.

“The truth is we made enough mistakes to earn the loss,” he said. “But that being said, horrendous shooting night by us and we miss a 3-point shot with 15 seconds to tie the game. That tells me (if) we play well, we’ll win.”