The Starting Lineup

Turn on the game!

Three must-see events this week:

1. NBA Finals, Game 7 (6 p.m. Sunday, ABC) — The Thunder and Pacers both have seven postseason losses. The 2023 NBA champion Nuggets had only four playoff defeats.

2. Los Angeles Dodgers at Rockies (6:40 p.m. Tuesday): Cross your purple foam fingers Shohei Ohtani skips his scheduled start Sunday so LoDo can witness Ohtani on the mound.

3. NBA draft (6 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, ABC/ESPN) — After taking calls from several NBA front offices on Nique Clifford, I expect he will jump into the draft lottery.

Numbers game

2 — NBA first-round draft picks from Colorado State between 2022-25, when Clifford goes in the first round Wednesday night, after the Rams program had only one between 1997-2012

Box office

$62 — Play hooky from work and school and catch Clayton Kershaw’s annual start at Coors Field, where the Dodgers lefty shows a 12-8 career record and 4.64 ERA (Gametime app).

This week in The Denver Gazette

Monday: Mark Kiszla opines from Coors Field and the series finale between the Rockies and the Diamondbacks.

Tuesday: Vinny Benedetto examines five ways to improve the Nuggets, who enter draft week without a selection.

Wednesday: Evan Rawal prepares for the NHL draft by looking back at the best and worst picks in Avalanche history.

They said it

“Whatever he’s been doing, I would continue doing that.”

—Rockies interim manager Warren Schaeffer on starting pitcher German Marquez, the focus of a Sunday feature from Kevin Henry. D8.