PORTLAND -- Mike Brown slid over one chair, oversaw a rousing Warriors comeback victory and showered his compromised roster with lavish praise.
They did it, he said, pointing out the work of everybody from Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson and Draymond Green, to Pat McCaw and JaVale McGee in a 119-113 win over the Portland Trail Blazers.
Green begged to differ. He turned the finger of commendation upon Brown, the assistant coach who adroitly stepped into the shoes of ailing head coach Steve Kerr for a win that gave the Warriors a 3-0 lead in this best-of-seven first-round series.
"He was the MVP tonight," Green said of Brown.
So, of course, Curry, who scored a game-high 34 points, including 14 in the fourth quarter to put away the Blazers, gave the game ball to Kerr.
"We've got his back," Curry said. "We've had certain situations all year, in previous years, where players are down and you've got the ‘next man up' philosophy. Same with Coach Kerr. He's done a great job of implementing a philosophy and a strategy and an identity of how we play Warrior basketball, and even in his absence we want to kind of live up to that."
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This is the Warrior Way, every man contributing, every man mattering, and no individual hogging the accolades.
Truth be told, there were heroes aplenty in a game the Warriors yanked straight from the clutches of the loss column.
There was McGee coming off the bench providing a jolt of electricity when his teammates seemed badly in need of recharging.
There was Curry, looking lost on offense for most of the night, before zeroing in when it was needed most.
There was McCaw, the rookie second-round draft pick who again defied his youth, tap-dancing all over the stat sheet.
There was Green, blocking six shots. There was Thompson, drilling four 3-pointers in the third quarter. There was Andre Iguodala, igniting the defense during the pivotal third-quarter stretch when the Warriors wiped out a 16-point lead.
Miss anyone?
On, yes, there was at least one more contributor.
General manager Bob Myers also nudged his way into the picture. After watching Portland shoot 53.3 percent in the first half, Myers jokingly threatened to replace Brown with veteran assistant Ron Adams for the second half.
Brown and the Warriors responded by holding the Trail Blazers to 33.3-percent shooting in the second half.
No single player or coach was responsible, just as they would have it.
