Let the Play-offs begin!

Auburn Hills -- The defending WNBA champion Detroit Shock grabbed the attention of Atlanta Dream coach Marynell Meadors after the Shock earned an 87-83 victory at The Palace the last time the teams played Aug. 27.

"They came out like the bunch of bullies that they are and pushed us around, and no calls were made," Meadors said of the Shock, who held a 43-39 rebounding edge that game, including 18-14 at the offensive end. "That's what they had to do to win the game. I think we're a better team than they are."

The Dream will get the chance to prove it when the teams open their best-of-three Eastern Conference semifinal series Wednesday at The Palace (8 p.m., ESPN2), with Games 2 (Friday) and 3 (Sunday, if necessary) set for Atlanta, which owned the tiebreaker by winning the first three games against Detroit.

"It sounds like we got in their heads the last time we played them," said Shock All-Star guard Deanna Nolan, who scored 29 in that victory but averaged just 11 points on 20-percent shooting in the losses to the Dream. "We don't bully people no more than they bully us. We just play physical, pound the ball inside and run up and down the court. They're not better than us. We're very capable of beating them."

The Shock open up the playoffs with momentum, having won nine of their final 11 games.

They needed the streak to make the postseason. After Bill Laimbeer resigned three games into the season, the Shock struggled to a 9-14 start and were on the outside looking into the playoff race under new coach Rick Mahorn.

"We're playing harder at both ends of the court now," said Nolan, who has averaged 20.2 points the past 11 games. "We've been playing Shock defense which is getting big stops. We feel pretty good about ourselves. We came back from a 20-point deficit Saturday to beat Chicago and that tells you how we're capable of playing. Now, we need to play that way for 40 minutes."

Nolan has elevated her game since Katie Smith, last year's WNBA Finals MVP, was sidelined with a herniated disc seven games ago. Nolan doesn't expect to see Smith play against the Dream but has been impressed with the play of veteran guard Nikki Teasley, who was acquired from with 12 games remaining.

Teasley started the season with Atlanta and had 11 assists in a 96-86 victory over Detroit on June 26.

Meadors, meanwhile, is the favorite for coach of the year honors, trying to lead the Dream to a worst-to-first scenario, just like the Shock did in 2003 when they won the first of three championships. The Dream were 4-30 in their inaugural season last year.

Both teams are 18-16.