Auburn Hills, MI (AHN) - The Detroit Shock took Game 1 of the 2007 WNBA Finals Wednesday night, subduing the feisty Phoenix Mercury 108-100 despite playing without their best interior player and All-Star game Most Valuable Player, Cheryl Ford.

The league's defending champions reached the championship round after squeaking by New York and Indiana in the Eastern Conference only to meet up with the high-scoring Mercury who were unbeaten in the postseason.

The Shock got solid performances from Plenette Pierson and Kara Braxton who each came off the bench to ignite Detroit in Ford's absence.

Pierson scored a team-high 26 points - in just 24 minutes - on 9-for-13 shooting from the field while Braxton added 19 points in 20 minutes while shooting 8-for-13 from the field.

"Obviously, a good win for us a man down. That was a magnificent contribution from our bench," said Detroit coach Bill Laimbeer, who found out Wednesday morning that Ford wouldn't be able to go.

Detroit outrebounded Phoenix 48-30 and their bench outscored the Mercury's by a whopping 50-12 advantage.

Laimbeer said he hopes Ford is ready to go for Game 2.

"Right now, we're hoping she'll play Saturday, but we won't know until the morning of the game at the earliest," he said.

The Shock got 22 points from Kate Smith and a owned the boards with Braxton pulling down 12 rebounds and Pierson snatching 10 boards.

Phoenix got a game-high 32 points from Penny Taylor and another 27 from Cappie Pondexter but got a sub par performance from all-star Diana Taurasi who was averaging 20 points per game through the Mercury's first four playoff games and 25 points per game during the regular season.

Taurasi was held scoreless in the first half and scored just 10 points for the game on 3-for-8 shooting.

"It was what we expected," Taylor said. "We got out to run, and they got inside a lot. They are bigger than us, and that's something we'll have to focus on. There aren't too many teams with that many big players and big bodies."

Pierson, who won the WNBA's Sixth Woman of the Year award, played the first three seasons of her career in Phoenix.

"That's why she was sixth man of the year," Taurasi said of Pierson. "She played great off the bench, gave them energy and was making plays."

Game 2 may be a knock-down drag-out fight as the teams exchanged bad blood late in the contest.

Deanna Nolan and Pondexter had words and Nolan gave Pondexter a one-armed shove, prompting others to separate the pair. Shock guard Elaine Powell also had to be restrained.

Pondexter wasn't interested in discussing the incident following the game.

"It's over with. It's done, so no need to talk about it," she said.