On the night LeBron James was eliminated from the playoffs, 2,300 miles to the East, in the building he used to call home, his old team had the ball with 6.2 seconds and a chance to win.



The Cavaliers, four-time defending conference champions, have known for months they would not make the postseason. Maybe, deep down, they knew it the moment LeBron announced he was leaving for the Lakers on July 1.



At any rate, only two NBA teams have worse records than the Cavs. But they haven’t been playing like these games don’t matter — not lately.



The Cavs’ opponent on Friday was the Lakers’ in-town rival, the Clippers, who are headed for the playoffs. Cleveland’s red-hot rookie, Collin Sexton, darted to the corner as a decoy. The ball was inbounded to Jordan Clarkson, a former Laker. Kevin Love set a pick for Clarkson and the Clippers switched, leaving the taller Danilo Gallinari to blanket Clarkson. The 3-point attempt from Clarkson...