After one quarter, it looked like a Phoenix road win. After two, a wonderful, fast-paced game. And after three, it was quite clear that Detroit would grind the Mercury into a powder.

The Shock snapped a losing streak by scoring the most points in the history of the franchise, 111 to the Mercury's 82. Detroit's dominance included a 19-0 run and a 72-point second half; they also doubled up the Merc in rebounds and held Paul Westhead's starters to 2-18 from downtown. "We got back to the basics," Katie Smith said.

The Shock's fireworks show also included the effective pro debut of Ivory Latta: coach Laimbeer once told us she wouldn't play much this year, but last night she got a career high in minutes and in points: she had 20 of each.

As for the Mercury's tactics... if I've seen one game like this, I've seen fifteen: the Mercury take a big early lead, then trail when their legs get tired and their jump shots stop falling, and just don't have a plan B. They're almost surely going to make the playoffs, but what will they do when they get there?