The Detroit Shock have been doing a better job of defending their WNBA championship this year than when they won it the first time.
After finishing with a league-best 24-10 record, the Shock will try to become the third team in the league's 11-year history to win consecutive titles.
Detroit followed up its first title in 2003 with two seasons around .500 and first-round exits in the postseason. Last year, The Shock had 23 wins, then rolled through the playoffs in the East before outlasting then-defending champion Sacramento in the finals.
"We were an inconsistent ball club, mentally," coach Bill Laimbeer said. "We were really unclear how to defend a championship. We were young and naive. This time around, I don't see that. ... We're much more confident in our ability to play a solid game from start to finish and not be as erratic as we were back then."
The playoffs get under way Thursday night, with the Connecticut Sun (18-16) hosting the Indiana Fever (21-13) in a best of three Eastern Conference matchup, and the two-time reigning West champion Sacramento Monarchs (19-15) opening at home against the San Antonio Silver Stars (20-14).
Detroit opens its first round Friday night at New York (16-18), and Phoenix (23-11) visits Seattle (17-17).
New York bounced back from the worst season in franchise history and returns to the postseason for the eighth time in the league's 11-year history. The Liberty, winners of six of their last nine, were the only team to beat the Shock twice, and split two overtime games at the Palace of Auburn Hills.
Sacramento is aiming to reach the finals for a third straight year, and become the first team to accomplish that since Los Angeles won consecutive titles in 2001 and '02 before losing to Detroit in '03. Houston won the league's first four championships (1997-2000).
The Monarchs split four games with the Silver Stars, getting a confidence-building win at home during the final week after two double-digit losses at San Antonio over the previous month.
"We have the best defensive team in the league," Sacramento veteran forward Yolanda Griffith said. "Right now it's just mental and I think we proved that we can play with this team."