Turn on the game!
Three must-see events this week:
1. Oklahoma City Thunder at Nuggets (7:30 p.m. Sunday, NBC) — The West’s top teams meet three times in the next 36 days — then for an inevitable seven-gamer in the NBA playoffs.
2. Detroit Red Wings at Avalanche (7 p.m. Monday, Altitude TV) — Don’t look now, but the Avs’ once-impenetrable lead in the Western Conference is down to seven points (Minnesota Wild).
3. Super Bowl LX (4:30 p.m. Sunday, NBC) — Will Broncos Country root for the Patriots or the Seahawks — or the meteor? Or skip the game, play golf, and read The Denver Gazette Monday.
Numbers game
10-6 — the Nuggets’ record while Nikola Jokic was sidelined with a knee injury he sustained Dec. 29, when the Nuggets trailed the Thunder by 5.5 games; they’re now only five games backÂ
Box office
$32 — to see the Gold Pan finale between Colorado College at No. 11 Denver at Magness Arena Saturday. The Pioneers own a four-game win streak (and 204-105 lead) in the series.
On this day
Feb. 1, 1996 — Joe Sakic scored a shorthanded goal and Claude Lemieux added three points as the Avalanche thrilled McNichols Sports Arena with a 6-4 win over the Jets during a Stanley Cup-winning season
Final word
It’s a Serbian sports world. We’re lucky to be living in it. Imagine the Sombor pubs Sunday as Nikola Jokic makes his national TV return from injury with a ballyhooed matchup with the OKC Thunder and countryman Novak Djokovic targets a 25th grand slam in the Australian Open final. Their best attribute? They’ll stand up to the bad guys then give everyone else a big hug. Ziveli!
—Paul Klee, The Denver Gazette