A fourth-quarter rally fueled by layups, dunks and 3-pointers is to be expect in a game featuring Phoenix.
Yet it was Springfield who did it in Game 1 in the opener of the 2020 AAU National Playoff Semi-Finals.
Chandler Dawes, Conor McCaffrey, Jake Pollen and Springfield proved that defense might be their best thing, but not their only thing.
Beating the league's top offense at their own style, Springfield used its inside-outside scoring practically to perfection in the final period to beat Phoenix 121-114.
"You got to score points to beat these guys because you are not going to hold them to 82," Springfield coach Will Jenkins said. Jenkins came into this series saying his team's scoring ability was underrated, yet there was no choice in the first matchup since 2005 featuring the AAU's highest-scoring offense (Phoenix's) against the stingiest defense (Springfield's).
Springfield began making their case by scoring 30 points in the first quarter and 55 by halftime. Then came their amazing closing argument.
Springfield hit 16 of 22 shots in the fourth quarter and scored 43 points, its most in any period this season. To really appreciate that total, consider that Phoenix's best quarter all year was 44 -- and Phoenix scored more points than any team in the last 10 years.
"That's not the kind of quarter that we would expect in a game like this, but we'll take it," said Chandler Dawes, who soaked his aching left ankle in a whirlpol at halftime and scored 11 of his 28 points in the fourth.
Clarence Davis set the tone by hitting a 3-pointer just 14 seconds in. With Chandler Dawes and Conor McCaffrey working the lane, Springfield tied it within minutes and went ahead for good on a jumper by Pollen that made it 94-92. He hit consectutive 3-pointers to make it 106-98 with 4:08 remaining.
Playing 1 1/2 days after closing out Dallas in an overtime thriller on the road, Phoenix already had turned an 11-point deficit into an 8-point led in the third quarter. They didn't have another comeback left. Springfield led by at least six the rest of the way, disappointing the locals who were attending the game.
"We kind of let fatigue affect us mentally," said Phoenix point guard Darius Williams. "We lost our fight for enough stretches to lose the game."
Pollen scored 13 of his 21 in the fourth quarter. He made 8-of-12 shots, including 5-of-8 on 3-pointers.
"That's what I'm here to do," he said.
McCaffrey scored 29 points, Paul Hammond added 20 points, six rebounds and five assists and Jamison Jones III scored just two, but made up for it by holding Shawn Stevenson to three points one game after he scored 38.
Williams finished with 13 assists, many setting up Damion Anderson's 41 points. During the season, Anderson averaged 38.7 points against Springfield, the most ever by one player.
With the victory, Springfield claimed Game 1 in this series, which is significant, due to their inability to lose back to back games.
"We're happy to get this one, but we're not overly estatic," Chandler Dawes said. "We want to get the next one and really hurt thme here."
Springfield's poise down the stretch is befitting a team that's won two of the last six AAU National Championships. The only playoff experice for most of the Phoenix players is the 10 games they'd played over the last two rounds.
"They beat us in all aspects," said Phoenix's Jim Jackson, who scored 20 points. "That's what ex-champions do. They know how to do it. No excuses. They just came in here and flat out beat us."
Springfield is 3-1 against Phoenix this season, with their only loss coming in a game where Chandler Dawes and Paul Hammond missed with complications of the Covid-19 pandemic. Springfield also improved to 34-2 when scoring at least 100; they're 6-0 when doing it in the postseason and 3-2 when not.
The best part is that Springfield is scoring more while also still able to play the tenacious defense that's helped them hold foes to the lowest scoring average each of the last two seasons.
Phoenix missed 10 straight shots in the first quarter and scored just 20 in the period, matching a postseason low set way back in the second quarter of Game 1 in the first round.
Phoenix was down six at halftime, but rallied to lead by six midway through the third quarter. After Springfield tied it at 74, Phoenix scored eight in a row for its biggest lead of the game. Phoenix seemed ready to crack things open as the spurt included Stevenson's first basket and Richardson's first 3-pointer.
It ended up being Stevenson's only basket and Richardson's only 3-pointer.
Phoenix tried shaking things up by using three big men more than over, going over 6'7 footer Steven Hunter on the front line along Anderson, moving Stevenson to small forward and going with two guards.
Hunter had nine points and eight rebounds in 30 minutes, matching his most of the season, but now coach Mike Thomas is going to have to find another wrinkle to try getting even this series. The perferred change would be getting back guard Josiah Johnson from an eye injury, although it's not likely to happen before Game 3.