The second meeting of the season between last year’s NBA finalists drew strong numbers on TNT Thursday night.
The Lakers’ 110-109 overtime win over the Celtics drew a 2.7 U.S rating and 4.31 million viewers on TNT Thursday night, up 170% and 270% respectively from last year’s comparable Cavaliers/Rockets game, and easily the highest rated, most viewed NBA game of the season on cable.
The 2.7 and 4.31 million viewers is the best for a regular season game on cable since 2004, when a Christmas Day Pistons/Pacers tilt drew a 2.9 and 4.33 million on ESPN. Additionally, Lakers/Celtics ranks as the most viewed regular season NBA game on TNT since 1996, when Michael Jordan‘s Bulls played Magic Johnson‘s Lakers in Johnson’s second game out of retirement.
The game was the most watched television program of the night on cable among Men 18-34, 18-49 and 25-54. In Los Angeles, the game drew a 14.1 share, meaning that 14.1% of televisions in use in the nation’s #2 market were tuned to the game. The game drew a 16.1 share in Boston.
So far this season, TNT is averaging a 1.1 U.S. rating and 1.8 million viewers for NBA coverage, up 9% and 23% from last year.
Sources: Turner Sports, The Associated Press.
