The NBA had its most-watched first round of the playoffs in three years.
The first round of the NBA Playoffs averaged 3.06 million viewers across ESPN/ABC and TNT, up 46% from last year’s months-delayed, fanless postseason in the “bubble” and up 3% from 2019, the last postseason to begin as normal in the month of April.
Sunday’s Mavericks-Clippers Game 7 was the most-watched game of the opening round, averaging a 3.0 rating and 5.49 million viewers on ABC. Ratings jumped 43% and viewership 62% from ABC’s first round Game 7 last year, Jazz-Nuggets on a Tuesday night in September (2.1, 3.39M).
Outside of the bubble, ABC’s previous first round Game 7 was Pacers-Cavaliers in 2018 — a game that featured LeBron James and averaged 6.80 million. A year earlier, the network averaged 5.84 million for Jazz-Clippers Game 7.
Friday’s Clippers-Mavericks Game 6 drew 3.61 million viewers on ESPN, down just 3% from the comparable Warriors-Clippers Game 6 in ’19, which had an NFL Draft lead-in (3.71M).
Shifting to the highest-profile series of the first round, last Thursday’s Suns-Lakers Game 6 averaged 4.53 million viewers on TNT — the network’s largest opening round audience since 2018 (Cavaliers-Pacers Game 4: 6.07M). The Suns’ Game 5 rout last Tuesday averaged 3.48 million, up 43% from last year in the “bubble” (Mavericks-Clippers: 2.43M) and up 12% from Thunder-Blazers in 2019, a game that ended on a series-clinching three-pointer by Damian Lillard (3.11M).
Speaking of Lillard, his 55-point performance in a loss to Denver averaged 562,000 on NBA TV opposite TNT’s Lakers-Suns Tuesday night — up 15% from 2019 (Spurs-Nuggets: 490K) and the network’s most-watched NBA playoff game since 2018 (Jazz-Thunder Game 5: 823K).
Game 6 of the series on TNT Thursday averaged 3.29 million, up 82% from the comparable 2019 window, which aired opposite the NFL Draft (Nuggets-Spurs: 1.80M).
In other action, last Wednesday’s series-deciding Hawks-Knicks Game 5 averaged 2.86 million on TNT — down 15% from Jazz-Rockets in 2019 (3.37M).* Mavericks-Clippers Game 5 drew 3.36 million later in the night, down 18% from Clippers-Warriors in ’19 (4.09M). Keep in mind the games aired opposite competing playoff action on NBA TV (Wizards-Sixers: 422K; Grizzlies-Jazz: 334K), while the competing 2019 games did not.
As for the second round, Saturday’s Bucks-Nets Game 1 averaged 3.5 million on TNT, up 14% from Sixers-Raptors in 2019 (3.08M). Sunday’s Hawks-Sixers Game 1 drew 3.39 million on ABC, up 102% from Celtics-Raptors in a similar window on ESPN in the “bubble” (1.68M) but down 19% from Celtics-Bucks on ABC in ’19 (4.20M).
Monday’s Nuggets-Suns Game 1 averaged 3.69 million viewers on TNT, per John Ourand of Sports Business Journal, up 1% from Nuggets-Blazers Game 1 in ’19 (3.64M). The Bucks-Nets lead-in scored 3.14 million — up 31% from Heat-Bucks Game 1 in the “bubble” (2.39M) but down 18% from Sixers-Raptors Game 2 in ’19 (3.83M).
In addition to the three-year high, the first round of the playoffs won the night in adults 18-34 on all fifteen nights of play.
[Nielsen estimates from NBA, Turner Sports, ESPN, Ourand/Twitter 6.8; SpoilerTV 6.9 a, b]
