76ER REPORT

The 76ers pulled off a major upset.

No, not by beating the Lakers. By outlasting their frenetic owner, Pat Croce, who normally puts the Energizer bunny to shame.

“My emotions drained me,” Croce said. “I’m thinking, ‘I hope they have more energy than I do, because I’m exhausted.’ Just the stress level just cheering for this team. Against Shaq, you’re thinking, ‘How can you stop this man? How do you stop him?’ And with five fouls on Dikembe, I’m thinking, ‘Oh, no! Overtime?’ And they just pulled together . . . and it’s a great feeling. It’s surreal. I can’t believe we won the first game.”

So what do you do for an encore?

“Win two.”