After a splendid first half Saturday in which they revealed the best of themselves, wowing a surly Philadelphia audience, the Warriors slipped into clown suits in the second half and resorted to slapstick.
The defending champs were mordantly substandard in the third quarter and comically awful in the fourth, blowing a 24-point lead by shooting as if blindfolded and treating the ball as if it were coated with baby oil.
The Warriors were fortunate Harrison Barnes drilled a clutch shot, giving them a 108-105 victory over the 76ers and allowing them to avoid the embarrassment that surely would have followed a loss to the team with the worst record in the NBA.