Wednesday night’s Celtics/Knicks thriller was a big hit both locally and nationally.
The Celtics’ two-point win over the Knicks drew a 1.8 U.S. rating and 2.787 million viewers on ESPN Wednesday night, the network’s ninth-largest audience for a regular season NBA game since acquiring rights in 2002.
Five of the ten most-viewed regular season games on ESPN have taken place this season alone. Keep in mind ESPN is in its ninth season televising the NBA.
Of those five games, Celtics/Knicks was the first that did not feature the Miami Heat or have a Heat game as a lead-in.
The game earned a 6.27 rating on ESPN and MSG Network in the New York market. For details on the MSG Network rating, click here.
In the nightcap of Wednesday’s doubleheader, ESPN drew a 1.2 U.S. rating and 1.809 million viewers for Trail Blazers/Mavericks.
10 Most-Viewed Regular Season NBA Games on ESPN Since Net Acquired Rights in ’02
| # | Date | Game | Net | Rating | Viewers (000) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fri., 1/17/03 | Lakers 104 | ESPN |
3.1
|
4,882
|
| Rockets 108 | |||||
| 2 | Sat., 12/25/04 | Pistons 98 | ESPN |
2.9
|
4,325
|
| Pacers 93 | |||||
| 3 | Fri., 10/29/10 | Magic 70 | ESPN |
2.3
|
3,774
|
| Heat 96 | |||||
| 4 | Wed., 2/20/08 | Lakers 130 | ESPN |
2.5
|
3,616
|
| Suns 124 | |||||
| 5 | Fri., 10/29/10 | Lakers 114 | ESPN |
2.0
|
3,168
|
| Suns 106 | |||||
| 6 | Wed., 10/29/03 | Cavaliers 92 | ESPN |
2.3
|
3,032
|
| Kings 106 | |||||
| 7 | Wed., 11/24/10 | Heat 95 | ESPN |
2.0
|
2,985
|
| Magic 104 | |||||
| 8 | Fri., 2/22/08 | Celtics 77 | ESPN |
2.0
|
2,793
|
| Suns 85 | |||||
| 9 | Wed., 12/15/10 | Celtics 118 | ESPN |
1.8
|
2,787
|
| Knicks 116 | |||||
| 10 | Fri., 12/10/10 | Heat 106 | ESPN |
1.8
|
2,756
|
| Warriors 84 |
