Play It Forward May 30-June 5: It wouldn't be an NBA Finals without LeBron James

Ranking top 10 sports events May 30 to June 5 you won’t want to miss:

NO. 1: NBA FINALS

CLEVELAND vs. OKLAHOMA CITY/GOLDEN STATE

Details/TV: Game 1 at Cleveland or Golden State: Thursday, Ch. 7

LeBron James’ sixth straight trip to the NBA Finals and seventh in his 13-year NBA career can’t be taken for granted. Even though we’ve seen his bar set so high, it’s easy to do. The last time someone went to six consecutive finals was 50 years ago — back to the Bill Russell-Boston Celtics days when they played in 10 in a row. (And, yes, James has taken teammate James Jones with him for the six-Final run, so there is that good luck charm). James’ teams are 2-4 in his previous Finals appearance, and he’s 0-2 with the Cavs (2007 and ’15) after a 2-2 run with Miami.

A Cleveland rematch with Golden State would be most justified — Game 7 of the Warriors-Thunder Weste Conference final lands on Monday, 6 p.m., TNT — considering how James practically played 1-on-5 against Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and eventual series MVP Andre Iguodala. Despite accounting for nearly 40 percent of the Cavs’ points and leading both teams in points (35.8), rebounds (13.3) and assists (8.8), the first player in NBA Finals history to do such a ridiculous thing, the Cavs couldn’t overcome the loss of injured players Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving, both of whom are primed for their first NBA Final shot.

“I didn’t appreciate last year, what we were able to accomplish in our first year,” James said in an ESPN interview after the Cavs eliminated the Raptors in the Easte Conference final. “I’m just truly blessed. ... To be in a position where I can go out and help a group of guys get to places where either they haven’t been before or been, but want to accomplish even more in their careers, it just means a lot. So a lot of emotions were going through my head and appreciating what I’ve personally been able to do throughout my career so far.”

Also this week: Game 2 is Sunday at Cleveland or Golden State, Time TBA, Ch. 7.

NO. 2: UFC 199

Details/TV: At the Forum in Inglewood, Saturday, 7 p.m., PPV, FS1, UFC Fight Pass

Five times in the past, Staples Center has been the go-to L.A. venue for an Ultimate Fighting Championship extravaganza. Now the Forum, once a prime spot for boxing and back in the fight business since its recent facility facelift, gets to put on a UFC party for the first time. There are 13 scheduled matchups on the card, with the main draw pitting middleweight champ Luke Rockhold and his 15-2 record against England’s Michael “The Count” Bisping, who became the third man up after Chris Weidman and Ronald Souza couldn’t answer the bell with injuries. Bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz also shares the bill by taking on Urijah Faber. Only one women’s meeting on this one: Jessica Pee and Jessica Andrade. Maybe Ronda Rousey is close enough to want to come in and sneak a peek at what’s going on.

Advertisement

NO. 3: NHL STANLEY CUP FINAL

PITTSBURGH vs. SAN JOSE

Details/TV: Game 1 at Pittsburgh, Monday, 5 p.m., Ch. 4

When Sharks meet Penguins, and it’s not a National Geographic special, but something somewhat special nonetheless. San Jose’s Logan Couture (24), Joe Pavelski (22) and Brent Bus (20) are the top three leaders in points for the entire playoffs, with Pavelski first in goals with 13. There’s also the Sharks’ 36-year-old pair Joe Thoton and Patrick Marleau, picked Nos. 1 and 2 in the 1997 draft and Olympic gold-medal wiing teammates with Canada in 2010, looking for their first Cup hoists. Another former No. 1 pick, 28-year-old Pittsburgh star and captain Sidney Crosby, makes his third trip to the Stanley Cup Final but the first since he led the Pens to the 2009 title over Detroit in a seven-game series. He has six goals and nine assists in 18 playoff games thus far, with three game-wiing goals in the Easte Conference finals against Tampa Bay.

Also this week: Game 2 at Pittsburgh is Wednesday, 5 p.m. on NBCSN; Game 3 at San Jose is Saturday, 5 p.m., Ch. 4 or NBCSN.

NO. 4: MLB: DODGERS at CHICAGO CUBS

Details/TV: Monday-Thursday, SportsNet LA

Since throwing a no-hitter at Dodger Stadium in late August of 2015, Jake Arrieta (9-0, 1.72) has lost just once (in the NLCS, against the Mets) and has had the audacity to throw a second no-no (against Cinciati last month). Arietta hasn’t seen the Dodgers since that Sunday night national TV performance, but he could be ripe for a rare loss. He lasted just five iings in his last start, giving up a season-high four runs with a season-low four strikeouts — and still managed to steal the win in the Cubs’ 9-8 triumph at St. Louis. That’s consistent in the fact that the Cubs average 8.1 runs per start for the defending Cy Young Award wier. Arrieta is scheduled to start on Tuesday, which would be his sixth appearance in May after going 5-0 with a 1.00 ERA in his five April starts. Note: ESPN has two of the four Dodgers-Cubs games on its TV schedule this series (Tuesday and Wednesday) but both are blacked out in L.A.

The series: Monday, 2:05 p.m., Tuesday and Wednesday, 5:05 p.m., Thursday, 11:20 a.m.

Also this week: Dodgers vs. Atlanta, at Dodger Stadium, Friday-Sunday. SportsNet LA

NO. 5: MLB: ANGELS vs. DETROIT

Details/TV: At Angel Stadium, Monday-Wednesday, FSW

Justin Verlander (4-4, 4.02) took a no-hitter into the ninth iing against the Angels last August, but Chris Ianetta broke it up with a leadoff double off the left-field line chalk. Verlander, coming off eight shutout iings in a 10-strikeout win over Philadelphia, makes the Tigers’ start on Memorial Day and has given up just four runs over his last four appearances.

The series: Monday, 6:05 p.m., Tuesday, 7:05 p.m., Wednesday, 4:05 p.m.

Also this week: Angels at Pittsburgh, Friday-Sunday, FSW

NO. 6: TENNIS: 117th FRENCH OPEN

WOMEN’S FINAL

Details/TV: At Roland Garros Stadium in Paris, Saturday, 5 a.m., Ch. 4

MEN’S FINAL

Details/TV: At Roland Garros Stadium in Paris, Sunday, 5 p.m., Ch. 4

The rain has been a pain for those trying to finish matches on the clay courts. As Serena Williams works her way to the women’s final — which could take knocking out sister Venus Williams in the semifinals, the progress of 23-year-old American Shelby Rogers is worth monitoring. She’s in her first Grand Slam quarterfinal and, ranked 108th, only five players with a ranking lower than Rogers have been this far at Roland Garros in the last 30 years. Next up is No. 4 and last year Wimbledon ruerup Garbine Muguruza.

NO. 7: WNBA: SPARKS vs. SAN ANTONIO

Details/TV: At Staples Center, Thursday, 7:30 p.m.

The Sparks’ first 5-0 start since 2003 (when they went 9-0) reaches a point of back-to-back games against the 1-3 Stars, with the second game in San Antonio on Saturday (5 p.m., TWCS). The Sparks lead the league in scoring (88.4 points a game) while giving up a league-low 71.4 — making the average win figure out to 17 points a contest.

NO. 8: MLS: GALAXY vs. KANSAS CITY

Details/TV: At StubHub Center in Carson, Thursday at 7:30 p.m., TWCS

After this one against Sporting KC (5-2-8), the Galaxy (5-5-2) take what amounts to a two-week vacation, and the next home game isn’t until June 22.

NO. 9: HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL: CIF SOUTHERN SECTION DIVISION 1 FINAL

Details/TV: At San Manuel Stadium in San Beardino, Saturday

Harvard-Westlake (23-8) of Studio City and West Ranch (24-8) of Valencia, neither of whom were in the last Division Top 10 rankings when released in mid-May, are one game away from meeting in the title game. Harvard Westlake needs to defeat No. 1 JSerra (27-6) and West Ranch faces No. 6 Murrieta Mesa (25-7) in Tuesday’s semifinals at Blair Field in Long Beach.

Division 1, 2, 3 and 4 finals are at San Manuel Stadium; Division 5, 6 and 7 are Saturday at UC Riverside.

NO. 10: HIGH SCHOOL TRACK AND FIELD

CALIFORNIA STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS

Details: At Clovis, Friday and Saturday

T.J. Brock, the Chaminade of West Hills senior and USC-bound football and track star, defends his state title in the 100 meters, wiing his event in 10.61 seconds at the Southe Section Division 1 finals last weekend and trying to top his season-best 10.35 that he posted at the Southe Section prelims. He ran a 10.2 at the Southe Section finals last year.

ALSO

BOXING: FRANCISCO VARGAS vs. ORLANDO SALIDO

Details/TV: At StubHub Center, Saturday, 7:30 p.m., HBO

The WBC super featherweight title fight defense is the first for Vargas (23-0-1) since his win over Takashi Miura. Salido, a three-time former world featherweight champ, is no up-and-comer at age 35. This comes on a three-hour TV delay in the Pacific Time Zone (10:30 p.m. airing)