Even without Kobe Bryant — or a legitimate chance of winning — the Lakers still attracted the largest NBA playoff audience of the weekend on cable.
Game 4 of the Spurs/Lakers first round NBA playoff series drew 3.5 million viewers on TNT Sunday night, down 2% from Celtics/Hawks Game 4 last year (3.6M), and down 22% from Magic/Hawks Game 4 in 2011 (4.5M).
Spurs/Lakers was the most-viewed playoff game of the weekend on cable.
Later in the night, Nuggets/Warriors Game 4 drew 3.2 million — down 31% from Lakers/Nuggets Game 4 last year (4.6M) and down 49% from Lakers/Hornets Game 4 in 2011 (6.3M).
Shifting to Saturday’s action, Thunder/Rockets Game 3 earned 3.3 million viewers on ESPN — up 46% from Spurs/Jazz Game 3 on TNT last year (2.2M), but down 11% from Thunder/Nuggets Game 3 in 2011 (3.7M).
Pacers/Hawks Game 3 earlier in the night drew 2.0 million (-42%), Clippers/Grizzlies Game 4 on TNT earned 2.9 million (even), and the triple-overtime Nets/Bulls Game 4 scored 2.5 million (+8%).
On Friday night, Knicks/Celtics Game 3 drew 2.9 million viewers on ESPN, even with Hawks/Celtics Game 3 last year (2.9M), but down 15% from Celtics/Knicks Game 3 in 2011 (3.4M).
In the late window, Spurs/Lakers Game 3 drew 2.9 million on ESPN (-20%) and Nuggets/Warriors Game 3 earned 1.4 million on ESPN2 (+30%).
(Numbers from The Futon Critic [1], [2], [3], with additional information from Son of the Bronx)
