The NBA Playoffs went in opposite directions on ESPN and TNT over the weekend.
Game 4 of the Rockets/Clippers NBA playoff series drew 5.0 million viewers on TNT Sunday night, up 12% from Pacers/Wizards last year (4.5M), and the second-largest audience of the postseason on cable.
The Clippers have now played in five of the six most-watched playoff games on cable this season, the lone exception being Friday’s Cavaliers/Bulls Game 3 (5.6M). Overall, the team has played in five of the eight most-watched playoff games on any network — though that does not include this past weekend’s telecasts on ABC.
In addition, the increase in viewership is just the fifth of the postseason for a non-Cavaliers game (46 telecasts), with the Clippers involved in three of the five.
The numbers told a different story the previous day. Game 3 of the Hawks/Wizards series drew just 2.4 million viewers on ESPN Saturday afternoon — down 29% from Thunder/Grizzlies in 2013 (3.4M) and the least-watched second round NBA playoff game since Magic/Hawks Game 3 in 2010 (2.0M).
The Hawks/Wizards series accounts for three of the four least-watched second round games since 2010.
