Overnight ratings held steady for the final game of the NBA season.
Game 5 of the Thunder/Heat NBA Finals drew a 12.6 overnight rating on ABC Thursday night, flat compared to Heat/Mavericks Game 5 last year (12.6), and down 2% from Lakers/Celtics Game 5 on a Sunday night (12.8).
The 12.6 overnight is the highest of the series, edging Tuesday’s Game 4 (12.4). Overall, the 12.6 is tied as the eighth-highest for an NBA game on ABC since the network resumed airing games in the 2002-03 season.
With that said, the 12.6 is the lowest for a series-clinching game of the NBA Finals since Lakers/Magic Game 5 in 2009 (9.4). Lakers/Magic was, until this year, the most recent NBA Finals to end in four or five games.
Last year’s Mavericks/Heat Game 6 clincher drew a 15.0 overnight on a Sunday night, and Celtics/Lakers Game 7 drew an 18.2 on a Thursday night.
Game 5 drew a 40.3 rating in Miami-Ft. Lauderdale, the highest local rating ever for an NBA game in the market. The 40.3 marks a 17% increase from Game 4 on Tuesday night (34.6), and a 23% rise from last year’s Game 5 (32.7).
In Oklahoma City, the game drew a 39.8 rating — down 18% from Game 4 (49.1) and a series-low. For some perspective, Bulls/SuperSonics Game 5 in 1996 — the last appearance for the SuperSonics franchise in the NBA Finals before this year — drew a 40.7 rating in Seattle.
(Thursday’s overnight from ESPN Media Zone)
