If anyone was wondering what matters more, average viewership or series length, the Thunder-Pacers NBA Finals may be an answer.
The 2025 NBA Playoffs averaged 4.74 million viewers across ABC, ESPN, TNT and NBA TV, with that average rising to 5.05 million with NBA TV excluded — up five percent from last year (4.53 and 4.79 million respectively).
While the Thunder-Pacers NBA Finals was the least-watched in four years — and the least-watched outside of COVID since 2007 — the series boosted the overall playoff average, which was up just two percent through the conference finals. It was the first seven-game NBA Finals since 2016, with Sunday’s Game 7 ranking as the most-watched NBA game since 2019.
It should be noted that even small NBA Finals audiences are going to be the largest of any postseason. This year’s series going seven, as compared to last year’s higher rated five-game series, meant two additional Finals level audiences — which clearly made a difference.
Overall, the conference finals and Finals lasted a combined four additional games compared to last year.
Owing to their Finals run and their conference final against New York, the Pacers were the primary television draw of this postseason — playing in nine of the ten and 12 of the 14 most-watched games. Across all games this NBA season, 12 of 15 involved the Pacers. (By comparison, of the top 15 games last season, ten involved the West champion Mavericks and eight involved the NBA champion Celtics.)
The ESPN networks averaged 6.1 million viewers during the playoffs, up 10% from last year. An average for TNT Sports, which concluded its four-decade run airing the NBA this season, will be added to this piece when available.
