The NBA’s two best teams delivered cable’s largest audiences of the young postseason.
Game 2 of the Rockets/Warriors NBA playoff series scored 4.4 million viewers on TNT Monday, up 8% from Pelicans/Warriors last year (4.1M), up 41% from Warriors/Clippers in 2014 (3.1M), and the top audience in the window in four years — since Mavericks/Thunder in 2012 (4.7M).
Golden State’s win ranks as the most-watched game of the postseason on cable (nine telecasts).
In Monday’s other action, Game 2 of this year’s Mavericks/Thunder series had 3.2 million viewers — down 1% from Bucks/Bulls last year (3.22M to 3.21M) and down 23% from Grizzlies/Thunder in 2014 (4.2M). NBA TV pulled 531,000 for Pacers/Raptors Game 2, up 16% from its first playoff game last year, Nets/Raptors on a Tuesday night (459K).
Shifting to Sunday, Grizzlies/Spurs Game 1 had 4.0 million viewers on TNT — up 11% from Blazers/Clippers last year (3.6M), up 1% from Wizards/Bulls in ’14 (3.9M), and the top audience in the window since Bucks/Heat in 2013 (4.9M).
The Spurs’ rout scored cable’s second-largest audience of the playoffs, a surprise given the lopsided result and the injury riddled Grizzlies’ lack of national appeal. Bookending the game, Blazers/Clippers Game 1 scored 3.1 million (-19%) and Hornets/Heat 3.0 million (-12%).
Shifting to Saturday, ESPN had 3.0 million for Mavericks/Thunder Game 1 — down 8% from Mavericks/Rockets last year (3.3M) and down 18% from Grizzlies/Thunder in 2014 (3.7M). Celtics/Hawks scored 2.9 million earlier in the night, up 10% from Bucks/Bulls last year (2.7M) and down 10% from Hawks/Pacers in ’14 (3.2M).
Rounding out the early slate, Pacers/Raptors Game 1 opened the postseason with 1.9 million viewers — up 9% from Wizards/Raptors last year (1.8M) and down 15% from Nets/Raptors in 2014 (2.3M).
