The second round of the NBA Playoffs got off to a solid start on TNT, considering the lopsided nature of the games.
Game 1 of the Clippers/Thunder second round NBA playoff series earned 5.4 million viewers on TNT Monday night, down slightly from Warriors/Spurs last year (5.5M), and down 19% from Lakers/Thunder in 2012 (6.7M). Despite the lopsided score, Clippers/Thunder was the most-viewed of the four second round series openers.
Earlier Monday, Game 1 of the Wizards/Pacers series drew 3.7 million — down 34% from Bulls/Heat last year (5.5M), and down 9% from Sixers/Celtics Game 2 in 2012 (4.0M). Wizards/Pacers was the least-viewed of the second round openers.
Shifting to Tuesday’s action, Game 1 between the Blazers and Spurs drew 4.8 million viewers on TNT — up 1% from Grizzlies/Thunder Game 2 last year (4.75M to 4.81M), but down 5% from Clippers/Spurs Game 1 in 2012 (5.0M). Like Clippers/Thunder, Blazers/Spurs held up well despite being a blowout.
Game 1 of Nets/Heat earned 4.5 million earlier in the night, up 20% from Pacers/Knicks Game 2 last year (3.7M), and up 1% from Pacers/Heat Game 2 in 2012 (4.46M to 4.48M).
