It was not as big a draw as the last time Golden State faced elimination in the conference finals, but Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals still delivered big numbers for TNT.
Saturday’s Rockets-Warriors NBA West Finals Game 6 earned 9.4 million viewers on TNT, per Nielsen fast-nationals — down 13% from Warriors-Thunder in 2016, the previous WCF Game 6 (10.8M). Neither conference final exceeded five games last year. Turner Sports did not disclose the rating.
The Warriors’ bizarre win — in which they trailed by as many as 17 and yet still won by 29 — ranks as the second-most watched conference final Game 6 since 2012. That year, Heat-Celtics had 11.1 million and Spurs-Thunder 9.5 million.
Viewership peaked at 12.0 million from 10:45-11 PM ET.
Game 6 earned the largest audience of the NBA Playoffs, topping Game 5 of the series Thursday night (9.2M). The Warriors-Rockets series now accounts for the four largest audiences of the postseason and five of the top seven.
Entering Monday’s Game 7, Warriors-Rockets has averaged 8.5 million viewers on TNT — up 30% from last year’s Warriors-Spurs sweep, but down 6% from Warriors-Thunder in 2016 (9.0M). Five of the six games have fallen short of the 2016 series. Historical NBA conference final ratings are available here.
Compared to last year’s conference final on TNT, Cavs-Celtics, viewership is up 36%.
