It was game number 71 for the Cavaliers as they headed to the city of Brotherly Love - Philadelphia. But there was no love on the court or in the locker room for the Cavs. Cleveland (31-40) extended it's current four game slide with a 86-71 loss to the 76ers. This coming after a huge seven game winning streak that put them into the playoff picture.

With the loss to Philadelphia (31-42) the Cavs have dropped out of the eight playoff spot and are now a 1/2 game behind the Celtics, who beat the New Jersey Nets - the Cavs next opponent.

Since Jeff McInnis came down with his shoulder injury, the Cavs have lost all four games. It's now becoming known as 'The McInnis Slide'. Cleveland hasn't been able to overcome their PG deficiency. Maybe they should take a look at the 76ers who were without three starters, including Allen Iverson, and played like they belonged in the postseason. LeBron James started at PG, something Paul Silas didn't want to do, and led the Cavs with 16 points while dishing out seven assists. McInnis is also expected to miss the Nets game.

No one picked up any slack, on the offensive or defensive end. As a matter of fact, it didn't look like they wanted to compete. Zydrunas Ilgauskas, wearing a mask on his broken nose, scored 15 points and only grabbed four rebounds. Carlos Boozer had just four points to go along with his 11 boards.

As no one seemed to want the responsibility on the Cavs to pick up the slack, John Salmons took advantage of Iverson's absence and scored a career-high 22 points. Salmons made six of his first seven shots. Kenny Thomas added 19 points while local product Eric Snow had 13 assists. It was Philadelphia's third straight win without Iverson and are now 7-1 in their last eight games with him being out. The win pulls the once-fading 76ers to within 1 1/2 games of the last playoff spot.

Since the winning streak, first quarters for the Cavs have just been terrible. And this game was no different. Thomas got Philly off and running grabbing the first two points of the game. The 76ers jumped out to an early 11-3 lead and led 25-16 after the one period of play.

Apart from three free-throws, the Cavs had a drought of three minutes without a field goal early in the second quarter. Philadelphia couldn't take advantage, scoring just four points in the first 5 1/2 minutes of the period. But the 76ers righted themselves and the Cavs found themselves behind 44-33 at the half. Cleveland shot just 33 percent in the first half.

Philadelphia maintained their lead throughout the third period, as the Cavs didn't pose any threat. The 76ers then closed out the third quarter with a 9-2 run that extended their lead to 69-51.

The 76ers led by 25 points with 9:37 to play. Philadelphia then went on a huge cold streak, scoring just eight points over the seven and a half minutes of play. The Cavs tried to make a push, and went on a 17-3 run to pull within 82-70. But they wouldn't score a single point in the final three minutes and the 76ers cruised to the victory.

Kedrick Brown had a nice showing of seven points in eight minutes of work during the fourth period. The 76ers shot 45 percent for the game, while the Cavs again shot poorly at 39 percent. Cleveland was outrebounded 41-32.