Game 2 of the NBA Finals put up big numbers for ABC Sunday night.
The Celtics’ Game 2 win over the Lakers drew a 10.9 overnight rating on ABC Sunday night, up 10% from Magic/Lakers Game 2 last year, which went overtime (9.9), up 7% from Lakers/Celtics Game 2 in ’08 (10.2) and up 58% from Cavaliers/Spurs Game 2 in ’07 (6.9).
The 10.9 overnight is tied as the highest for any of the first four games of the NBA Finals since 2004.
Additionally, this marks the fourth-highest overnight for an NBA Finals Game 2 since 1998 — behind 76ers/Lakers in ’01 (14.5), Pistons/Lakers in ’04 (12.3) and Pacers/Lakers in ’00 (11.9).
Since Game 2 of the NBA Finals moved to a Sunday night in ’05, final ratings have declined anywhere from 12% to 19% from the overnight — putting Sunday’s game on pace to finish in the 8.8-9.6 range.
Game 2 drew a 25.1 rating in the Los Angeles market, down slightly from Game 1 (25.2). In Boston, the game drew a 23.9, up 25% from Game 1 (19.1).
Sunday’s game was the highest rated program of the night, more than doubling Game 5 of the Flyers/Blackhawks Stanley Cup Final on NBC (4.0).
(ESPN)
