After a good start for an overtime Game 1, the Pacers-Celtics Eastern Conference Finals stumbled in a less-competitive Game 2.
Thursday’s Pacers-Celtics NBA Eastern Conference Finals Game 2 averaged a 3.1 rating and 5.64 million viewers on ESPN, flat in ratings and down 8% in viewership from Heat-Celtics on TNT last year (3.1, 6.13M) and the least-watched conference final game since 2021, when the round took place in late June and early July.
Compared to last year’s conference final on ESPN — Lakers-Nuggets in the West — ratings fell 25% (from 4.1) and viewership 26% (from 7.66 million).
The three-year low marked a reversal from Game 1, which was the most-watched Eastern Conference Final opener since 2018. Viewership declined 12% from Game 1, which averaged 6.43 million (including an ESPN2 alternate presentation).
Despite the lower numbers, Game 2 still delivered the seventh-largest audience of the NBA season, with the Pacers having played in three of the top seven — matching the Nuggets as the most of any team. That is of course a function of the Pacers playing a second round Game 7 and advancing to the conference finals, though the same could be said of the higher-profile Timberwolves (who have played in three of the top eight).
Through Thursday, NBA playoff games were averaging a 2.1 rating and 3.88 million viewers across ABC, ESPN, TNT/truTV and NBA TV — down 10% in ratings and 11% in viewership from the same point last year (2.3, 4.37M), but flat and up 2% respectively from 2022 (2.1, 3.88M).
(Numbers via Programming Insider 5.24)
