After a hot start over the weekend, Rockets-Warriors delivered another strong number in Game 2.
Tuesday’s Rockets-Warriors NBA semifinal Game 2 earned 6.07 million viewers on TNT, up 7% from last year (Pelicans-Warriors: 5.69M) and up 24% from 2017 (Jazz-Warriors Game 1: 4.90M). Ratings were not immediately available.
Excluding Game 7s, Golden State’s win delivered the largest first or second round audience on cable in three years (2016 Blazers-Warriors Game 5: 6.25M).
It was the sixth of eight Warriors playoff games to post an increase over last year’s comparable window. Of the 38 other playoff windows that can be compared to last year, only four have increased — two Spurs-Nuggets games on NBA TV and two Celtics-Pacers games on ABC.
As goes without saying, viewership for the other second round series has been on the decline. Celtics-Bucks Game 2 had 4.40 million earlier Tuesday night, down 22% from last year (Cavaliers-Raptors Game 1: 5.64M) and down 9% from 2017 (Wizards-Celtics: 4.84M).
Monday’s Sixers-Raptors Game 2 had 3.83 million, down 19% from last year (Sixers-Celtics Game 1: 4.72M) but up 7% from 2017 (Raptors-Cavaliers Game 1: 3.58M).
In Monday’s nightcap, Blazers-Nuggets Game 1 had 3.64 million — down 18% from Rockets-Spurs in 2017 (4.44M). There was no comparable window last year.
