Yes, the usually frenetic Phoenix team can play defense. They proved it in Game 2 with a blowout of Springfield.
With Kyle Thomas assigned to guard Chandler Dawes one-on-one and Shawn Steveson shutting down Conor McCaffrey, Phoenix squared the best-of-seven AAU National Quarterfinals series at one game apiece with a 101-81 victory.
Damion Anderson scored 21 of his 27 points in the second half to lead Phoenix.
Darius Williams, playing with a bandage over his nose after cutting it late in Game 1, added 20 points and 16 assists as Phoenix beat Springfield in a playoff game in the West for the first time in five games dating back to 2020.
Richard Bell added 18 points for the winners. Game 3 is going to be another classic.
Phoenix's most significant contributions may have come from Stevenson and Thomas, who was added to the starting lineup.
"Defensively, we were really good," coach Mike Andrews said. "It started with Shawn and Kyle. Their work on those two guys was really good. Finally, we started clicking a little bit offensively. It was a really good effort. We just need to repeat it three more times."
Chandler Dawes scored 29 points despite foul trouble for Springfield. But Phoenix didn't double-team him, and unlike Game 1, he got little help from his teammates.
"They decided to stay out there and let Kyle deal with me," Dawes said. "So that's how it went."
Andrews decision to start Thomas and have him defend Dawes freed up Anderson to concentrate on offense. As a result, Anderson had plenty of energy to counter Dawes's one man show in the third quarter.
"I tried to hit a couple of jumpers to bring the big guys out of the paint," Anderson said, "but I said forget about it. I'm just going to take it to the rack, and that's what we did."
Thomas, meanwhile, added 12 points on 6-of-7 shooting in 28 minutes. Phoenix are 8-0 with Thomas as a starter, but normally he has played a limited role off the bench.
"It's been tough on him not to play as much as he likes," Williams said. "At the same time, it's a tribute to what type of person, player and teammate he is that he can suffer a lack of playing time and then be able to step up in the biggest game of the season and play so well."
Thomas knows what he's expected to do whenever he is on the court.
"For me, I have to play defense," he said. "Mainly coming into the league, playing for some great coaches over the years. If I wanted to get out there on the floor, I had to really stop some guys on the defensive end."
After scoring 32 in the Game 1 series opening 111-106 win, McCaffrey managed only 13 on 5-of-14 shooting.
Stevenson managed only five points, but his teammates and coach praised him as a key to the victory.
Jamison Jones III also scored 13 and Paul Hammond had 11 for Springfield.
Phoenix took the lead for good midway through the second quarter and were up by 12 early in the third. The decisive blow was an 11-2 surge that began with a no-look, over-the-head pass from Brayden Allen to Anderson for a layup and ended with Thomas' inside basket on a feed from Williams that put Phoenix ahead 84-68 with 8:07 left.
Even though Dawes was back, Springfield never threatened again seriously.
"The game was all about maintainting a pursuit and aggressiveness," Springfield coach Will Jenkins said. "They did that in a variety of ways. It's disappointing. You have to find five guys committed to doing the same thing. It seemed like we had three, maybe four at times, but not five."
The evening didn't start out well for Phoenix, though.
Phoenix shot 26 percent (6-for-23) in the opening quarter. Dawes, meanwhile had 10 points and seven rebounds in the first, but just two points and two rebounds in his foul-plagued second.
Springfield was misfiring, too, going 1-for-9 during an 11-2 Phoenix run to start the second quarter. Anderson's dunk, Phoenix's first of the series, capped the spurt and put Phoenix ahead 30-27 with 7:12 left in the half.
Another Phoenix run, this one 9-2, boosted the lead to 41-35 with 3:06 to go in the half.
With a minute to play in the half, Dawes drew his third foul, on a charge against Williams, and Jenkins got a technical in protest. Williams made the free throw to make it 46-39. Springfield's Charlie Dawes missed a dunk, leading to a three-point play for Bell to give Phoenix a 49-39 lead 25 seconds before halftime.
Jones III's 3-pointer cut it to 49-42 at the break.