Now in its third year, the NBA Play-in Tournament continues to prove its worth in the ratings.
Tuesday’s Timberwolves-Lakers NBA Play-in Tournament game averaged 3.47 million viewers on TNT, the third-largest audience in the young history of the event (17 total games). The Lakers’ previous play-in game — against the Warriors on ESPN two years ago — holds the top spot at well over five million, followed by Grizzlies-Warriors the same year. Ratings were not immediately available.
The Lakers’ overtime win increased 29% from Clippers-Timberwolves in a similar window last year (2.70M).
For the season, it ranks second among NBA games on cable behind Lakers-Warriors on TNT Opening Night (3.55M). Even including ABC games, it still ranks among the top ten (ninth).
The other Western Conference play-in game — Thunder-Pelicans on ESPN Wednesday night — also increased double-digits. Oklahoma City’s win averaged 2.86 million, up 17% from Spurs-Pelicans last season (2.44M) and the third-largest play-in audience on record. It ranks fifth for the season on cable (14th including ABC).
Despite pitting relatively low-profile teams, Thunder-Pelicans also delivered the third-largest basketball audience on the ESPN cable networks this season — trailing the NCAA women’s basketball national semifinals (Iowa-South Carolina: 5.5M; LSU-Virginia Tech: 3.4M) and slightly ahead of a Duke-North Carolina men’s regular season game (2.858 to 2.855M).
Shifting to the Eastern Conference, Hawks-Heat averaged 2.25 million on TNT Tuesday — down 9% from Cavaliers-Nets last year (2.48M) — and Bulls-Raptors 2.18 million on ESPN Wednesday (+3%). Those games also rank among the top ten on cable this season, with Hawks-Heat eighth and Bulls-Raptors ninth.
Both Tuesday and Wednesday, the play-in games ranked first and second across all of television in both adults 18-49 and 18-34. Tuesday’s games also placed first and second in 25-54, while Wednesday’s games ranked first and third (“Survivor” on CBS edged Bulls-Raptors in that demo).
(Nielsen estimates from ShowBuzz Daily 4.12, 4.13, Programming Insider 4.12)
