AUBURN HILLS, Mich., Sept. 16 -- It has been said from day 1 that this WNBA Finals series is a study in contrasts. Steady and solid versus fast and flashy. Low scoring, grind-it-out defense and rebounding versus high scoring, run-and-gun, hot-shooting offense. Age and experience versus youth and inexperience. The proverbial matchup of the unstoppable force and the immovable object.

These contrasts have borne themselves out over the first four games of this series, though not quite in the way that many expected.

We have learned that despite each side's preference to stick to its style of game -- the Shock to the grind-it-out, tough defense approach and the Mercury to their fast-breaking, hoist-up-a-shot-before-committing-a-turnover plan -- neither team necessarily has to stick to that approach to win.

Though they did it with their patented toughness and inside game, Detroit earned an uncharacteristically high scoring win in Game 1. In Game 3, Shock coach Bill Laimbeer went with an abnormally small lineup with hopes of offsetting Phoenix's fast break, and it worked.

Phoenix's Game 4 win at home came despite a second straight night of terrible shooting in which Penny Taylor and Tangela Smith, both double-digit average scorers in the regular season, went a combined 2-21 from the field. Cappie Pondexter took the game over and made some monster shots, but the game was finally won on defense, when the Mercury took the ball out of Deanna Nolan's hands and forced an off-balance, last-second leaner from veteran Shannon "Pee Wee" Johnson that went wide.

Tendencies, trends and statistics are often seen as law by analysts (and, of course, fantasy sports enthusiasts) and they can occasionally provide some insight into a game or series. But as laws, these ones are far from steadfast.

Though the series hasn't quite stuck to the script, Game 5 will still be a tactical battle, says Nolan.

"It really seems like it could come down to which coach outsmarts the other," the All-WNBA First Team performer said Saturday. "When we won Game 1, Phoenix adjusted in Game 2. When they adjusted in Game 2, we adjusted in Game 3. And it's kept going back and forth. So it's a matter of getting a good game plan and executing it."

So where do we stand heading into Sunday's Game 5? What have we learned?

We've learned that these are two VERY GOOD teams, with intriguing matchups all over the court, says Phoenix superstar Diana Taurasi.

"You see the matchups: Katie [Smith] and I, it's Deanna and Cappie, it's Penny [Taylor] and Plenette [Pierson], Tangela [Smith] and Cheryl Ford… those are interesting matchups because each one is so different in what they bring to the table, and as a fan I can see that being a lot of fun to follow."

We've also learned that the Shock can win without Ford, the All-Star Game MVP, something they may be forced to do again Sunday in Game 5. Due to a re-aggravation of her knee injury, Laimbeer is "pessimistic" about Ford's chances of getting on the court, but Ford remains confident about her teammates' abilities to step up.

"I ain't worried about it," she said Saturday. "I know that they are going to come in and play hard and do what they can to help us win. This is the last game, so I know that they are going to play hard."

Center Kara Braxton, who is likely to see increased time on the court if Ford is inactive, agrees.

"Everybody needs to step up. We've been a man down almost the whole season. She has some big shoes to fill, but we've done it before and we're not hanging our heads. We have to go out and do what we have to do."

Another thing we've learned through four games? Home-court advantage is important… but maybe not that important. Through the first two rounds of the playoffs, Phoenix was the only team to win a single game on the road. But here in the Finals, it's been a wash, with the Shock and Mercury earning splits at each other's arenas.

Still, with everything riding on the deciding Game 5, Nolan would rather take her chances on her home court.

"We felt like we could have closed it out in Game 4 in Phoenix, but it's nice to come home to win it in front of… I mean, TRY to win it in front of our home crowd."

Nolan's Freudian slip, though, reminds us that the Shock aren't lacking in confidence, something Laimbeer thinks will help in this winner-take-all contest.

"We're a pretty resilient bunch," he said. "We're very strong willed and strong minded -- always have been -- and when it comes to games like this, we know we have to take care of business."

The Shock's confidence stems partially from their coach but it also comes from a glut of playoff and Finals experience.

"We've been saying all season long that our experience is going to give us an advantage," says Pierson, the WNBA's Sixth Woman of the Year. "And I think now more than ever it's time to show our experience and our poise and get the job done."

On the flip side, though, the Mercury bring a sense of excitement, almost a youthful exuberance into Game 5, especially with that opportunity for a first title just 40 minutes away.

"They've been here before, we haven't," Taylor concedes. "But with the level of talent we have, and the fact that we've played a lot of important games in college or overseas or the Olympics, I think we'll be OK. The hunger to win is more important at this stage."

And there's plenty of that hunger from both sides. When asked what a WNBA championship would mean, Pondexter paused to contemplate the scenario.

"It would mean the world," she said after a few seconds. "It's something I've been working for my whole basketball career."

"It would mean a lot," for the Shock, too, said Nolan, who will likely be tasked with guarding Pondexter on the defensive end. "It would be back-to-back, which is really hard to do. It would mean a lot especially because this was once a team that was counted out of everything. It would mean a lot, not only to us, but the city."

"It's the only thing I don't have," said Johnson, who through nine WNBA seasons has been to four All-Star Games but has never won a title. "Anytime you're an athlete and play a sport for as long as I've played it, you want a title. That's not anything I want hanging over my head. I want a title and this is my opportunity."

So it's down to one game for the WNBA title. Winner take all. What are the players thinking?

"It is not going to be easy," said Pondexter. "Every possession is going to be a battle. If you want to win, you have to pay the price and give it all you have."

"It's 40 minutes of my life, when I can give every ounce of energy and effort I have," says Taylor. "And everybody else feels the same way. It's not above any of us and we know that if we stick together and do it as a team, we can do it."

Both teams CAN do it, but who will? Tune in at 4:30 p.m. EDT today on ESPN2 to find out.