A rematch of last year’s Western Conference Finals scored the largest NBA playoff audience of the opening weekend.
Game 1 of the Mavericks/Thunder NBA playoff series drew 4.115 million viewers on ESPN Saturday night, up 19% from Trail Blazers/Mavericks Game 1 last year (3.456M), and up 41% from Jazz/Nuggets Game 1 in 2010 (2.921M).
The game was the most-viewed NBA playoff telecast on cable over the weekend.
On Sunday, Game 1 between the Jazz and Spurs drew 3.197 million viewers — up 13% from Grizzlies/Spurs Game 1 on TNT last year (2.836M). There was no game in the comparable window in 2010.
Viewership for the third game of the weekend on ESPN — Saturday’s Magic/Pacers Game 1 — was not immediately available.
(Sat./Sun. numbers from Media Life Magazine)
